Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Septimus was unconscious laying in the middle of an eternally flat reflective plane in the middle of nowhere. The skinny red Tiefling was six foot five with black horns and long white hair. He was wearing a trench coat with the sleeves removed with a crop top underneath with his abdomen exposed. His feet were wrapped in foot wraps after years of not ever finding shoes that could fit his hind legs properly. 
Slowly, his mind came back to him and he opened his Abyssal solid black eyes to the world he found himself in or the lack thereof. With a groan, he propped himself up on his mechanical right arm - Cut off where the shoulder would meet the torso - before pushing himself to his feet. He felt on his back and found that his great sword was still strapped to it so he wasn't defenseless. Rubbing his eyes to get his vision clear, he looked at the space around him and found it mesmerizing.
The sky was a stunning star scape with more stars than he could count with a giant red aurora encompassing them forming what looked to be the heart of a galaxy. Looking down, he noticed that the floor was a perfectly flat reflective surface stretching on for miles in all directions with no end in sight. Septimus' mind began to race trying to parse just where the hell he had ended up. Was this purgatory? Did he die and was in the process of waiting for a god to grant him passage to whatever afterlife existed? Was he stuck in his own head, it would not be the first time and he still had that deal to see through, speaking of which. In a sudden burst of realization, Sep looked over his person and was glad to find that all his stuff was still there minus a certain white cat named Smidvarg. Where the hell did the useless feline go he thought. He thought about it for a moment and came to the conclusion that wherever he was brought to must had been for only a single participant and not multiple so he simply wasn't brought along. Or he somehow got thrown off course by some divine intervention or whatever the hell it was called. Either way, he hoped that he should be fine no matter where he ended up. Given that cats way of making friends being sitting on them then he should be able to find someone to look after him soon enough. As for himself though. 

Looking around, he could feel the Aether just radiating around him almost feeling like being submerged in water. It was a weird sensation especially since he never went fully underwater and he was not even submerged. He gave his mechanical arm a once over to make sure nothing came loose, sure he had his tools to fix it on him but this really wasn't the place to do so. Thankfully, the most he needed to do was tighten a nut that had came just that little bit loose but that was a common enough occurrence to me considered a non issue. After that was done, he took another look around trying to find any sort of landmark with which to guide him and found none unsurprisingly. It was almost like being in the desert again with nothing for miles around to guide you other than the sun. Looking to the sky again and seeing the burning white core of what had to be a galaxy, he determined that that was the most likely thing to lead him to...something at least. It was also possible that he could just be led into the middle of nowhere but given his situation, it really made no difference. With a quick huff, he began walking in the direction of that galactic core.

The walk would prove to be fruitful despite the low odds. Although, it did prove to be something that could have sent someone insane after a while. The reflective surface that made up the ground didn't leave any footprints and if you included the ever present lack of landmarks, it could almost feel like you weren't moving at all. But thankfully, there was something to prevent that possibility from becoming a reality. Up ahead, Sep saw what looked to be something glowing a blue light but he couldn't make out what it was from this distance.
Feeling paranoid that something could be watching him, Sep turned around to view the entire environment for something watching him but found nothing. What the hell was this place supposed to be. The most he could think of was that it had to be some sort of testing ground for a deity of some kind and he slipped in somehow. But why was it so empty and devoid of life...or maybe this area hadn't been used yet. But there was the blue light in the distance. Hopefully it could give him some form of answer. 

With a renewed vigor, Sep fast walked towards the blue light with his hand on the hilt of the great sword strapped to his back. The place he found himself in didn't provide any hiding spaces for something to jump out at him but it was also entirely possible that something could simply rise up from out of the floor. He had heard of that happening in various myths so it wasn't entirely out of the question. He finally came within view of the blue light and found it to be a large blue crystal hovering in between a set of jagged rocks all pointed to the sky away from it. It slowly spun on its axis emitting its shimmering light. Reaching out his hand like one would over a fire on a cold night, he felt the Aetherial energy radiating off of it. Looking at its darkened reflection in the glass like floor showed nothing other than the reflection itself. Sep glanced around unsure of how to proceed, the obvious choice was to touch the crystal itself and see if that did anything but it could also be some form of trap. Surely it wasn't nearly that simple...Was it? He turned to look back at the thing as if it would grow a mouth and give him instructions. Logic said that would not happen as what would be the point in making a puzzle if you just said the solution to the one trying to solve it. It was almost taunting in how simple it all seemed. 

That was when an idea came to his head and it lay firmly on his back. Could it be that it needed something to touch it and that something was his hand. He didn't want to risk becoming a double amputee, having only one arm was already bad enough but two would be utter agony. That was where his Great sword came into play. He reached up and gripped the hilt with his mechanical arm before leveling it in the air to the side of him. The crystal had continued to spin on its axis ignorant of the plot Sep was thinking. 
Cautiously, he brought the tip of the blade up pointing it forward holding it steady which came with practiced ease handling heavy materials for a good chunk of his life. He put one foot in front of the other as he moved toward the crystal before coming just within inches of its surface. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath hoping this wouldn't be the most stupid decision in his life. He opened his eyes again before performing a small thrust onto the crystal and...nothing happened. At the very least, he had proved that it was safe to touch which was always a plus but it meant one less option. He hoisted the Great sword onto his back again before his arms couldn't bear the weight anymore. While his right metal arm could take more stress than his left, it was still tiring regardless. The crystal continued to spin on its axis still ignorant of the questions going through his head. It was by then that he came to one conclusion. He was gonna have to potentially sacrifice one of his hands to do this.

He looked down to his metal hand knowing that he could afford to lose it at he could just build a new one when he got out of here. Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves and any reservations he had about this, Sep extended his hand out towards the blue crystal coming within inches of contact before stopping.
His mind swirled with all the possibilities that could happen in the next few seconds which mostly ended up being the many many ways he could be mutilated or maimed further than he already was. But he simply shut those intrusive thoughts out coming to the conclusion that whatever sadistic being put him here clearly wanted him to do this and he really had no other option available to him. And with one final mental push, he bridged the gap.

The surface where he touched began to radiate light before spreading to the rest of the crystal. It slowly sped up its spinning only to stop with one large faceted face pointing at him. Inside the face, energy swirled within magenta ribbons clashing with ribbons of cyan forming in the center of the face. It took a few seconds for it to form...a silhouette of a wrench? 
If Sep wasn't confused before, he certainly was now. He didn't know what he could expect from the image but a wrench was not even close to what he would have thought. 

He didn't get to dwell on the matter for long though as a burst of air spread out in all directions nearly pushing him off his feet if his tail didn't act as a third leg to keep him upright. He had his arm up shielding his face waiting for another pulse to come but it didn't, but he still kept it up. That was when he heard what sounded like shattering glass coming from the crystal. All around it, the air itself splintered like fractured glass with holes in reality itself shining through threatening to tear the space apart. Not wanting to be any where near the center, Sep turned and ran in the other direction to hopefully get out of the blast radius. But that didn't help.
The floor around him had been crumbling with the only platform being that of the crystal. Looking at the vast expanse of stars showed absolutely nothing. There was only one way for him to go and it was right at the crystal. His heart raced as he stepped back to not fall off the ever dwindling platform trying to think of how to get out of here but came up short. By this time, he stepped close enough to be within the perimeter of the jagged rocks encircling the crystal and that was when it happened. He felt a shift in air pressure before he turned around and watched the crystal itself shatter right in front of him. Sep was blown back into the void from the blast as a tremendous amount of energy burst out from it screaming into the void.

 The further he fell, the more he felt reality itself breaking down. The energy that had blown from the crystal raced down to meet him as the void below became more shattered, he would have screamed if there was any air left in his lungs. The energy itself latched onto him and he felt his entire body erupt in pain like someone had put a torch to his nervous system to set his veins on fire. It was so much pain that Sep couldn't even register the changes as he mercifully fell unconscious as he emerged from the void and was falling through the air of another world.

Talwyn was bored. Scratch that, she was more than bored. She was absolutely jaded at her current predicament. She had heard through the grapevine that one of her men was involved in an illegal drug trafficking ring on the outskirts of Luminopolis. It was an abandoned warehouse on actual solid ground making it not look like it was in a metropolis but rather some town on Veldin. Normally, she wouldn't partake in something like this being chief of the Polaris defense force and whatnot and usually being too busy to participate. But Polaris had managed to hit a good lull in actually needing to be defended so she could make the sacrifice today. She also just needed something different to do other than paperwork and a good old fashioned stakeout sounded just perfect. Oh, if only she could go back and slap herself for thinking that this would be any level of excitement more than what she did on the regular.
The only time that a stakeout proved to be worth it was right at the very end when the perp they were looking for walks right in front of the window or maybe they catch a shipment of something most definitely illegal. While she didn't want anything to actually happen, she kind of secretly hoped it would about halfway into the shift. 
"HQ to cruiser 99, requesting update, over." A voice came from the dashboards radio. Talwyn looked over at her partner sitting across from her who also happened to be a markazian. He was older than her by a fair bit but knew what to look for on these types of cases. And sadly, they hadn't found anything on that list of his. With a shake of his head, Talwyn picked up the communicator.
"Cruiser 99 to HQ, no update, no signs of suspicious activity, over." She said having said it on the hour every hour over the course of the shift. She took a glance at the clock and saw that they had about five minutes before they were done here but they couldn't come fast enough she thought.

"Not nearly as exciting as doing paperwork aye," Her partner Michael said as she threw herself back and sunk into her seat on the drivers side of the cruiser. "Not one bit." She replied.
"Yeah, believe me, stakeouts in these parts rarely end with a criminal coming into view." He said taking a sip of his coffee. Weren't that the truth.
"This isn't my first stakeout Mike, I guess I just forgot how boring it got especially after being cooped up in an office for the better part of a month." It wasn't to say that all she did was file paperwork and such as she also helped in the training of new recruits and even participated in high stakes missions on occasion. But the lull in actual galactic defending meant that those kinds of events were steadily becoming fewer and fewer between. What could she say other than that she was an adrenaline junkie and loved to go on a good old high stakes adventure. 
"Eh, my advice would be to take boring days like this when they come. Never know when piece is going to be shattered and your up from midnight to midnight." Mike chimed in sensing the distress of his partner while taking another sip of his coffee. Talwyn took a deep breath knowing all too well the truth the mans words held having had the experience herself particularly when they had the whole planets going missing fiasco and Ratchet went missing. She did not miss that.

She glanced at the clock and saw that it was only a single minute until the shift was over and so she turned to look at Mike. "Should we call it?" She asked gesturing to the clock. Mike looked at it before staring up at the abandoned warehouse outside letting the seconds tick by. Talwyn was about to ask if he heard her when the clock ticked over to five pm and Mike leaned back in his seat. "Yeah, lets call it." He said turning to look at her with a cheeky smirk. Talwyn just stared deadpan at him for his obvious joke which she held for nearly a full thirty seconds before he started to snicker. "That wasn't funny." She said but Mike burst out into laughter at seeing her face. She rolled her eyes as she went to pick up the communicator to end there shift once and for all having the feeling that this site would prove to be a dead end. "Cruiser 99 to HQ, returning to base." She said while Mike calmed down from his laughing fit. "Oh your face was priceless." He said once he calmed down. "HQ to Cruiser 99, Duly noted, return to HQ and finish up. Over." The operator said to which Talwyn was relieved as she internally decided that she was just going to go home and put on a show to watch. "You gotta admit it was funny." Mike said from beside her. "Michael, While normally I like jokes...I think I am just too bored for one at the moment." She said right as a sonic boom was heard. Probably somebody breaking the speed limit.
"Alright Alright, wasn't one of my best after all and besides, need something to entertain one self when on a stakeout." He said as his excuse. Talwyn engaged the engine and put the cruiser into gear ready to get back to HQ. "Gotta enjoy the little things Miss Apogee." He added. "Now that is something that I can get behind." She said tiredly as she pulled out of the parking spot. "Too bad nothing exciting happened though." Talwyn said absentmindedly. "Can't win em all." Mike responded. "Yeah but...I wanted at least something ya-"

CRASH

Talwyn was interrupted as something slammed down onto the front windshield shattering it and causing her to slam on the breaks to stop it with Mike bracing himself as well. The cruiser lurched to a halt with its two occupants sitting there waiting for there heart rates to slow down and to recover from the near heart attack they just had. Talwyn had her hand on her chest taking deep breaths immediately regretting the words she said.
"You alright." Mike asked taking deep breaths himself. "Yeah I'm fine." She said staring at the shattered windshield wondering what the hell that was. She turned to Mike before motioning with her head to get out and take a look. Mike nodded to her gripping his service weapon hoping it wasn't anything dangerous. Talwyn followed suit as they both stepped out of the cruiser.

They kept there weapons trained at the front and looked down to see someone lying on the ground in front of them wearing a sleeveless trench coat. Talwyn looked between them and the windshield and put two and two together moving toward them. "Careful." Mike said not knowing what could happen. Talwyn approached them slowly before crouching down to check there pulse. They were unconscious but they were definitely breathing but with several shards of glass embedded into the coat. "Mike, get dispatch on the line and call for immediate medical assistance." She said to which he obliged and got into the car to do just that. "OK OK, please don't be dead." She said to herself as she grabbed the man by the shoulder to get a better look at him. He was...a Lombax. They had red fur with white stripes with an almost malnourished looking physique with the right arm being entirely mechanical stopping at the torso. Her eyes went wide in shock at seeing what was definitely a lombax on the ground in front of her. "Medical assistance is going to be here in ten minutes Apogee. Hows he looking?" Mike asked breaking her out of her transfixion. She thought for a few seconds before she finally could form words again. "There pulse is stable and they should be fine...grab my phone, I need to give someone a call." She said. Mike nodded and got her phone from the cruiser before passing it to her. She nodded to there would be car crash victim silently telling him to look over him as she went into her list of contacts. 
She hoped to god that he wasn't in another dimension at the moment.

Chapter Text

Everything felt weird to him. He wasn't sure why it did except that it just did. He could hear something beeping at a steady rhythm but wasn't able to place it as his mind was still waking up. He could hear someone talking to his left but it was muffled so he couldn't make out what they were saying. He hoped that it was nothing explicitly bad but he had to know for sure. He had to wake up. His whole body felt sore like he had been trampled by a rhino multiple times with no room in between. Gradually, he found the strength to at least creep open his eyes with the voice from before saying something he couldn't comprehend and another one off to his right. 
Eventually, he managed to open his eyelids all the way and was assaulted by a bright white light shining down onto his abyssal black eyes. He blinked his eyes from the blinding light letting them adapt to the sudden change in brightness as he heard his hearing sharpen and clear up. 

"That is very interesting." The voice to his left said. He turned his head left to see a humanoid man in a white coat writing something down on a piece of paper. Then when he looked closer, he noticed the quality of the mans clothing. This wasn't something like where he had come from where even the highest quality fabric would break down after a significant amount of time but it looked like it cost a fortune.
The man looked down upon him pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. Even those looked really good. "Good to see you awake, I was wondering how much longer it would take." He said in a friendly manner as he grabbed a stool and rolled it over to sit beside him. "OK, I know that you have just woken up but can you answer a few questions for me please?, It's for the paperwork more than anything." He asked. Looking at the mans features, It reminded him of a Drow with the more pointed features and darkened skin tone that he couldn't help but think that this may be a subspecies of sorts. The man clicked a pen and pulled up a clipboard that looked to have printed paper on it, that was really odd. Did he happen to be stumbled upon by a rich person or something. He hoped they wouldn't give him that hard of a time. But to answer the mans question, he nodded.

"Alright, Could I have your name please?" He asked.
"Septimus Hawthorne." Sep said and he could feel how dry his throat was. He probably was unconscious for at least a few hours if that was the case.
"OK, now what is your age." They asked next. "Twenty three." Sep responded now aware of how louder and more sensitive his hearing was. It wasn't the worst thing in the world, it felt more like a ten to twenty percent increase in clarity and it just felt weird. It didn't hurt his brain the way he thought it would normally when hearing louder than average sounds. 

"OK, how aware of your surroundings are you? just need to make sure you haven't had a concussion and what not." They asked next. To him, he wasn't sure why they had asked that question but then again, he had never really been in a hospital room to begin with. Sep turned his head to look around the room he was in. It looked sterile and not made of wood but rather, more industrial with more clean and soft lines. That harsh light shining down on him looked to be connected to the roof. That wasn't the most surprising part though. He noticed that behind the man questioning him, there were metal panels with flickering light forming images on them and he found the source of the beeping. It was a line that went from one side of the panel to the other with peaks and dips in the middle following a steady beep at each peek. It was then that he noticed the beeping matched his heart rate down to the second and he wondered how it did that.

"A sterile room painted white." Sep began before looking down at what he was lying on. His clothes were gone and replaced with some form of gown. "A large bed, no windows, and...could you remove that bright light?" He asked as it was now getting annoying for him. The man perked up before standing to flick a switch on the light turning it off. So it was mechanical he thought not sure where he ended up but it had to be advanced if such a thing felt commonplace. It was also possible that the guy had just been using it for so long that it had lost all of its reverence. "OK, it seems like you are concussion free. There is nothing wrong with your vision or maybe you feel nauseous or anything of the sort?" they asked and he could finally place him as a doctor. He shook his head as he took in everything finding the room feeling very alien to him. Sep honestly felt fine, maybe a little tired at the most but other than that, he was about as fine as one could be. Then another question popped into his head, Just how did he get here. 
Sep could distinctly remember falling from a stunning star scape and passing out but how that translated to ending up in a hospital bed was a complete and utter mystery.

"Can I ask something?" He asked to which the doctor nodded.
"Where am I and how did I get here?" He asked and saw the doctors expression shift to one of contemplation. He hoped it wasn't a case of being in the worst place known to civilization. 

"You are in the Luminopolis central hospital and you came in the back of an ambulance after a call from Polaris defense force chief Talwyn Apogee." He said matter of factly. That told Sep both everything and nothing. He at the very least got himself a location but all the other stuff didn't sound right. Luminopolis, Ambulance, Polaris defense force. He had heard of none of those things at all in his life but it sounded like something that everyone and their mother should know based on how matter of factly and nonchalantly said it. His confusion must of been visible on his face as the doctor looked to the door leading out of the room as a thought came over him. "I am not exactly sure about the exact circumstances of how you came into our care but the person who does is on the other side of the door with questions of her own. Do you mind if I let them in sir?" He asked being as polite as possible. Sep wasn't entirely sure what the hell was going on and he wasn't going to pass up an opportunity for some answers like this. And in all likelihood, they were going to come in anyway to ask him some questions as well. "Let them in." Sep said. The doctor nodded along and walked to the door before opening it and talking with the person on the other side. A few seconds later, a woman who looked to be of the same species walked in with a red scarf around their neck along with a red headband. A green top with armor plates adorning her shoulders defended her skinny frame. 

The doctor and the woman shared a quick conversation as they walked to either side of his bed. "Mr Hawthorne, this is Talwyn Apogee of the Polaris defense force." the doctor said taking his seat yet again as this Talwyn took the right side of the bed. She looked to be nervous about the whole situation as she was fidgeting with her hands in her lap for the first minute or so. Sep decided to get the conversation going even though he never really liked to. "Your the one who brought me in I guess." He said making Talwyn flinch which he took note of.
"Yes, that would be correct." She replied quickly thinking of what else to say probably having though of a whole range of questions to ask but forgetting them the second she walked in the room. "OK, before anything else, introductions." She put her hand out in front of her. "I am Talwyn Apogee of the Polaris defense force and you are..." She drawed out the end of the sentence for Sep to take up. With a quick closing and opening of his mechanical arms fist, Sep extended it to give the woman a hand shake. "Septimus Hawthorne but just Sep is fine." He said as they broke the handshake. Talwyn steadied herself taking in a deep breath before she continued. "OK, first off, do you know how you got here?" She asked.

"That's what I am trying to figure out." Sep said.
"OK, fair enough. But what happened was I along with my partner were in a stakeout and were finishing our shift when we saw something crash onto eh windscreen of our police cruiser nearly giving the both of us a heart attack in the process. Then when we get out to see what it was, we found you lying on the ground with no more than a few cuts from glass. It was nothing deep or life threatening or so I am told." She said glancing to the Doctor in the room. "I can confirm that you are not at risk of any further ailments because of glass, the most you are going to get is a general itch across your back for the next few days to a week at most." He said. Well that was certainly good to hear he thought. Thinking about his injuries, he then looked to the biggest one that he had which was his mechanical arm. He gave it a once over before flexing the joints and making sure it was functional. 

"You didn't see anything dislodged from my arm, did you?" He asked.
"We did a sweep of the spot you landed and found nothing that could be from your arm although I am not even sure we would be able to recognize if it was if I'm being perfectly honest." Talwyn said.
"What do you mean."
"Well, I nor my friend have seen a prosthetic like yours well...ever. So I am unsure as to what could be what and such."

Sep thought about it and it made sense especially if it was to the untrained eye.
"It's a custom model so I am not surprised." He said only now noticing this weird look that she was giving him. It was most likely she found it uneasing seeing a prosthetic on someone which he was well acquainted with having received many similar looks over time. Thankfully, he also had an explanation for how he wound up here. He just so happened to get lucky that he had something to land on that could somewhat absorb the impact instead of the hard solid ground.
"OK, is that all of what you have to ask?" Talwyn picked the conversation back up.
"I'll probably think of some more in a few minutes but otherwise, no." Sep responded.

"Alright, first off, can you remember why you were falling out of the sky?" She asked.
Of course that was the first question but he certainly wasn't surprised as he would have probably done the same thing along with anyone else in this scenario. "I passed out before I fell onto your...cruiser you called it? But before I did so, I was in this star scape when the floor crumbled out from under me which led to me falling and I fell unconscious before waking up here." He said. This made Talwyn look more confused than before and he hoped they didn't outright label him as a crazy person for it. Sure, he wasn't the most stable mentally speaking but he wasn't insane...probably. "OK, were you under any influence at all before you fell." She asked.

"I can assure you that I wasn't doing drugs and even then, I don't think they could last long enough to go from one city to another after a trek through the abyss." he said matter of factly. He never got into drugs in the first place although he couldn't help but feel tempted to on occasion. Talwyn looked somewhat satisfied with the answer but also somewhat skeptical probably in part thanks to the trek through the abyss part. Then something came to in Sep's head and he just now noticed it. His gear. Frantically, he sat up leaning forward to Talwyn. "I just thought of it but, where is my gear?" he asked hoping he didn't lose it during transit. The panel started beeping faster at his immediate panic at where his gear was as he could not afford to lose any of it. "Calm down Sep. I can assure you that they are in a locker provided by the hospital and are not to be touched until I give the word." Talwyn said to diffuse his panic which thankfully worked and his heart rate gradually decreased as he flopped backwards onto the bed. He seriously could not afford to lose what was in that bag.

"Huh." He heard the woman say. He turned his head to her. "Huh what?" He asked.
"I don't mean to sound rude, but it is just that I noticed your pupils glow blue just then but now they are solid black." She said sounding fascinated by it. "If your going to ask if it is related to my species then I can tell you right now that it is not, My eyes are an anomaly amongst Tiefling's." He informed her remembering just how many people were confused when they first saw it. His pupils were something that he did his best to keep under control but on occasion, he slips up especially in moments of heightened emotion.
"What's a Tiefling?" Talwyn asked utterly confused. Sep turned his head to her to look her in the eyes not hearing of a place that hadn't had at least some form of Tiefling presence. "It's...what I am." He said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"I don't mean to sound rude but I don't quite get it. I have personally never heard of a Tiefling but I have definitely seen a lombax before." She said with a dreamy and reminiscent eye roll but it just caused Sep to be even more confused. 

"The fucks a Lombax?" He asked. The dreamy look Talwyn had was wiped away as her eyes went as wide as dinner plates in utter disbelief at what he said. There was clearly something that he was not seeing or did she think that he had some form of Amnesia. She shook her head as she struggled to find the best words to use in this situation never having had to do it before. "Um, you yourself are a Lombax, I am not sure why you call yourself a Tiefling. And I can confirm you are not a subspecies either." She said much to Sep's greater confusion. It must have been evident on his face as an idea sprung to Talwyn. "Um, have you looked in a mirror." She asked.
"The fuck does that have to do with anything, I am absolutely certain that I am a...What." Sep stopped himself as he finally looked down upon his left still organic arm covered in red fur with white markings and his eyes went wide. What was this.

His mind immediately began to race with questions finding no answer as he heard the beeping of the panel increase rapidly to what was undoubtedly a dangerous level. He felt himself over through the gown and blankets and it didn't feel normal at all and even his tail felt too small to be his. He grabbed onto his chest as he began to hyperventilate with the doctor coming in over the side to try and calm him. "Sir I need you to calm down for me, okay. Can you-"
"I need a mirror." Sep cut the doctor off as he felt his heart about to explode as a certain possibility erupted into his head and he needed to confirm it for himself. He looked around the room for one with his eyes going frantic. "Please, I need you to calm down, it seems you are suffering from a panic attack." He said trying to be professional about it but it wasn't working as it instead made Sep's heart rate skyrocket even further than what it already was. Then his eyes landed on what looked like a reflective surface and he made the move to get up. But he was pushed back down by the doctor telling him to hold still but he quickly pushed him off as he got out of the bed. Talwyn made a move to stop him but he moved out of her grasp faster than she expected. He was still hooked up to those machines as he dragged those with him as pads across his body broke off and he made a break for the reflective surface. "Sir I need you to get back into the bed." The doctor said as Sep grabbed the reflective surface which was thankfully an honest to god mirror. Finally, he saw someone.

Looking into the mirror revealed a sharp face covered in red fur with white markings and large ears nearly as big as his head each. The only things that told him that he was not looking at someone else were his braided silver hair reaching down to his middle back. And of course his abyssal black eyes with a glowing cyan pupil vibrating in place. He couldn't believe it, he simply couldn't but he looked down to his hand for confirmation and saw it respond exactly with what he told it to do. He felt light headed as he stood there hunched over the mirror as his hyperventilating reached a tipping point. Sep dropped the mirror and began to fall but was caught by both the Doctor and Talwyn before he could hit the floor. The two of them carried him back to the bed and placed him on it unsure of what just happened. The doctor made a note of this while Talwyn helped by putting the equipment back onto its feet. She herself was shocked at what just happened. At first, she thought that it might have been some form of amnesia but given the violent way he reacted. It likely wasn't and this Septimus was almost certainly not a Lombax but rather in a Lombax body unaware of the change. She stood there just staring at him as the Doctor came up beside her. "Didn't you say you had a friend coming by to take a look?" He asked with a quiver in his voice still taking the whole situation in himself. 

"Yeah I did, but Ratchet said he wasn't going to be here for a few more hours at least." She responded. He was currently busy finishing up a repair job for someone back on Veldin and wouldn't be there for a few more hours at least. "OK, regardless, when he gets here, make sure to inform him of what just happened as we don't know what else could happen." The doctor instructed to which Talwyn nodded along as she took a seat in the chair she previously occupied going through a breathing exercise to calm down. She hadn't expected things to get that bad and she hoped that was it. But knowing the luck of the universe, it was likely not going to be the case.

Chapter Text

The flight over was one of many questions with very little answers for both Ratchet and Clank. They were putting the finishing touches on a ship for a client when they received a call from Talwyn. It started out all casual like they normally did but it quickly devolved into something considerably less casual. It became serious when Talwyn had described the situation. Supposedly a Lombax had fallen out of the sky on top of her police cruiser and was unconscious while they took them to the hospital. They hadn't heard anything since then but They had to rush the job as Tal had asked them to come and give her there thoughts because they were the experts in Lombaxes and dimensional travel. 
The expert on Lombaxes thing wasn't true to an extent, sure Ratchet knew enough about them to get a good idea of what they might have been like but not an expert. That was more Talwyn's thing than his. Now expert in Inter dimensional travel, that he could call himself an expert in having done it numerous times himself. And because he happened to have the only device that could actually accomplish such a feat with the Dimensionator. 
Then there came the thing about a Lombax falling out of the sky. Now, he and Clank were no stranger to weird stuff as that is what happens when you are a hero for a good chunk of your life. But this just didn't fit into the norm for either of them. Honestly, they were more surprised that something like this hadn't happened sooner given there track record.

"Interesting." Clank said from beside Ratchet in the passenger seat of Aphelion. He was going over a report that Talwyn had sent to them about the situation while Ratchet was flying. "What is interesting?" He asked.
"Well, nearly all of it." Clank began. "According to this, The individual has not woken up yet but is not exhibiting regular Lombax physiology." He answered. "His legs seem to be closer to a digitigrade orientation rather than plantigrade like it should be and his tail is thicker and longer than either yours or Rivet's." He said.
"OK, that is weird but why is that the thing you are focused on?" Ratchet asked making sure to keep his eyes in front of them as the planet Luminopolis was on was in view and he was preparing for reentry. 
"Because, it means that he might be a rare breed of Lombax or potentially some form of experiment." Clank provided. Ratchet thought about it for a moment as it was a reasonable explanation as to why he was different in the physical sense but that was another thing. "If that is the case then how did he just fall out of the sky from nowhere." Ratchet asked. It wasn't like this guy had access to a Dimensionator like he did. "That part I am still unsure of but given what Miss Apogee said in her report, a portal is almost certainly what explains it...unless there is something that I am missing which is unlikely." He said as they began reentry. "Well, Lets hope that Tal has managed to get more information out of him by the time we land." Ratchet said as they flew through the planets atmosphere and came to the priority parking area of Luminopolis central hospital with permission from Talwyn of course.

Hopping out of the cockpit and Clank taking his usual spot on Ratchets back, the two walked into the building in order to find Talwyn. After questioning a few people, they eventually managed to find her hesitantly sitting on a bench outside of what appeared to be a rehab center. She was fidgeting with her gloves staring ahead at the door that almost certainly had there person of interest. Talwyn looked up and smiled upon there approach. "Ratchet." She says as she walks over and consumes the two in a nice hug which Ratchet returns wholeheartedly. "Man, am I glad to see you." She says as she breaks off the hug. "Yeah me too." He replied having not had the chance to meet and hang out with her for a while now especially after the whole Rift crisis a few months ago. 
"Now that the pleasantries have been exchanged, what was this about a lombax falling from the sky." Clank chimed in from Ratchets back. Talwyn steeled herself having momentarily forgot about the whole reason she called the two of them here in the first place.

"Right, of course. He is currently in there." She said pointing to the locked door in front of them. "He woke up a few hours ago so we got him to answer a few questions but he does not seem to be right in the head." She explained trying to think of how to say it without being offensive. That was about the best she could do.
"Not right in the head how?" Ratchet questioned hoping this wasn't a case of someone just flat out being insane. He could do without one of those thank you very much. "As in he does not know what a Lombax is and insists that he is a Tiefling, whatever that is." Talwyn began. "When we told him that he was a lombax, he was confused and passed out when he looked in a mirror." She finished. Ratchet couldn't help but snicker at the explanation finding it utterly hilarious but his friends did not. Clank elbowed him in the ribs when he finally stopped and put his serious face back on. "Anything else noteworthy of your small interrogation?" Clank asked. 
"Well, I wouldn't exactly call it an interrogation per se but he is mostly stoic except for the mirror incident. He was looking around the room a lot but that should be expected and his injuries are all minor." She relayed to the two of them. "And how is he doing now?" Clank asked again.
"Currently, he is in there and is awake but has been silent ever since just glancing over himself. He was given clothes so he wasn't in the hospital gown but he seems to be in some form of shock. I was kind of hoping that you two might be able to get something more out of him what with the whole dimension hopping you guys get up to." 
Ratchet stared at the door intently with Clank looking over his shoulder also intrigued by the mystery on the other side of the door. Given Talwyn's statement, the idea of experimentation certainly felt more plausible but the dimension hopping felt more like the answer given the report she gave them. "OK, so can we go in and talk to him?" Ratchet asked to which she replied yes walking over and knocking on the door. They didn't hear anything from the other side but Talwyn opened the door anyway just a bit so her voice could get through. "Excuse me Septimus, I have a visitor for you that might be able to help explain things." She said. Looking in, he didn't move a muscle as he was seated hunched over looking into the mirror but a twitch from his ear gave her all the confirmation she needed. 

Glancing down to her two friends who each gave her a nod in confirmation, she opened the door all the way. "I am letting them in now." She said knowing that it didn't need to be said but she was trying her best to make him not feel concerned but he didn't respond either way. Clank detached from his usual spot on Ratchets back and walked in beside Ratchet. "Just knock on the door if you need anything." Talwyn said before she closed the door gently behind them. 
Ratchet and Clank got there first really good look at the guy. He was wearing a white T-shirt and sweatpants provided by the hospital. They could see his Red fur with white stripes and that his right arm was instead replaced by a mechanical one similar to how Rivet had done. It looked to be cut off where the shoulder met the torso like her as well. He couldn't place any of the parts that he had on it despite his mechanical mind putting together how it worked just by looking at it. It looked crude but strong and definitely designed for a purpose rather than to look pretty. Looking up at the mirror also revealed his solid black Abyssal eyes staring at him through the mirror and it was almost unsettling just not knowing exactly where he was looking.

"Are you...a Lombax?" The guy questioned in a small voice almost in disbelief with both of them caught off guard by it. "Yes I am, I would say last one in the universe but with you being here, that would be a lie." Ratchet said as he walked around so he was looking at him from the front with Clank following suit. There was a chair jutting out on the other side of the table this Septimus as Talwyn had called him was sitting at. He took the seat with Clank jumping up to take the other one and it made the room feel more like an Interrogation room than a rehab room. Septimus' face now that he could get a proper look was more angular than his and it served to exaggerate his features in a way that he couldn't describe.
He also noted that now that they were sitting down, They looked like they might be taller than him although it didn't look like it with Ratchet sitting up straight and they guy sitting hunched over. 
"OK, Introductions. I am Ratchet and this is my Pal Clank and you are..." Ratchet gesture to himself and Clank respectively before gesturing to the guy in question. 
"Septimus Hawthorne." He supplied giving them a deadpan look. The look of shock had briefly vanished and became one of stoic grit if only for a second as it slipped back into shock as he was glancing over the two of them as well. Although, neither of them were sure where exactly he was looking as he didn't have any pupils whatsoever. "My friend and I are here to answer any questions that you might have and potentially ask for ourselves." Clank began once the pleasantries had been dealt with. Septimus looked down in contemplation for a bit before looking back up with his first question. 

"Why were you the ones assigned to me?" Septimus asked as his first question. Ratchet went to answer but came up short honestly not sure as to why himself so he turned his head to Clank who as always had an answer. "We were called in because you are a Lombax of which there are scarcely few left in this dimension. And because the only way that you realistically could have come into this dimension was through a portal of which, I happen to be an expert on." Clank exposited. "Aren't I an expert too?" Ratchet questioned noticing his buddies wording. "While I would like to say yes, I simply can't as you are better at pointing and shooting portals in the right locations where as I know how they work on a fundamental level which you have ignored despite my offerings." Clank said to a frustrated groan from Ratchet cursing how Clank happened to be one hundred percent correct...again. Oh how Ratchet was going to love the day when he could finally turn the tables on his friend. "Dimensions?" Septimus asked having been briefly ignored by his two interrogators.

"Yes...are you not aware of different dimensions?" Ratchet asked with a questioning gaze. "Yes, where I come from, only a few had thought of the idea whereas very few actually tried to find out if it was true." Septimus said as his gaze landed on Clank with an inquisitive look about him. "But it seems that your considerably farther ahead given how much personality your war forged has." He added. Clank tilted his head in confusion having never heard the term before. It sounded archaic and while he was initially built on a war bot assembly line, he wouldn't consider himself forged for war but it was curious nonetheless. 
"Whats a war forged?" Ratchet asked also confused. Septimus wasn't exactly phased by this question often using terms that required explanation himself but surely these people who were clearly way ahead of where he had come from should know what one is. Hell, one was in the room right in front of him but maybe they just had a different term for it. "Metallic humanoids imbued with a soul for a specific task. Most notably for Warfare. Hence the name." Was the explanation that he supplied. Clank found it intriguing to hear the words from what was almost certainly an outside perspective but he would have to ponder it later as they still had to get to the bottom of this mystery. But that also begged the question of where these war forged originated and it might track down where this guy came from.
"Sir, if you don't mind me asking, what world do you hail from?" he asked.

Septimus turned his head in confusion trying to think of his world's name, Wait, world? Just how far along are people in this place. "I'm not sure what you mean. Is it common enough here that everyone is given citizenship based on what planet they are from?" He questioned.
This threw both Ratchet and Clank for a loop sending both sets of eyes wide as that was exactly how it worked and was common knowledge yet the way this guy said it made it seem like the revelation of the century. "That is exactly how it is done. Have your people not left the surface of there home planet?" Clank asked able to keep his composure better than his companion. "No, hell, I am not even sure what half the stuff I saw in that room I initially woke up in was." Septimus confessed. 
That somehow made the duos eyes widen even further to the size of dinner-plates having never heard of that in any of the galaxies they had visited even once. Sure there were people who had never left the surface of the planet for whatever reason but a whole species at this stage of society was practically impossible. The gobsmacked look on both of there faces made Sep lose most of if not all of his patience. Here he was in a new place that looked to be thousands of years ahead of his home in a body that wasn't his own and he just wanted to know how to get out of here. 
"OK, so clearly you guys are further ahead than me, so would it be somewhat possible that you could pinpoint where I came from through some sort of interdenominational tracking spell or some shit similar to it?" He asked. That seemed to snap the two out of there collective stupor as they regained what was left of there composure. "I mean, it isn't exactly out of the question but we have never really had a-" Ratchet stopped himself. "Did you say Magic?" He asked upon noticing the specific wording. Sep added another point to the confusion statistic before just nodding."I do not mean to sound pretentious here but Magic is not a thing here, more exactly, there are many artifacts that work like magic but are instead just an advanced form of science." Clank supplied always having the answers to those sorts of questions no thanks in part to actually being one of those advanced forms of science himself. "Really?, then explain this." Sep said raising his organic hand up and causing a small mote of fire to appear in his hand from absolutely nothing. Both Ratchet and Clank stared in awe at it only having once experienced something like this with the whole Nexus incident. The amount of surprises this guy could create was mind boggling but they soon stopped there gawking when Septimus dismissed the flame and put his arm back on the table.

"How did you do that." Clank surprisingly asked. The two of them looked at Sep expectantly. Sep thought about it for a while not really knowing for himself. He had spent so much time just surviving that he really didn't have time to question his abilities and whilst he had heard of various ways magic manifested in beings wither through bloodlines or divine favor, he never knew how he did it. "Focused my mind and drew power from the Aether but otherwise, not a clue." He responded after the extended silence from the two. "How do you not have a clue, you are able to make fire without a fuel source and you don't know how. Wha...I jus...HOW?" Ratchet through his hands out exasperated. If he had that then he would have been trying to figure out how the hell he could from moment one despite how much he loathed doing research unless it was mechanics related. "never got a moment to sit down and consider it, I was more preoccupied with fixing this problem." Sep said tapping his mechanical arm. Ratchet was about to say something but put more thought into somehow and found that it made more sense that he would be focused on replacing a limb than delving into how his apparent magic worked...but still.
"I believe we are getting off topic here." Clank chimed in trying to salvage the conversation.
"I have just been going over ways of Identifying where you came from and I believe that I have thought of one possible solution." Clank continued.
"And what would that be?"
"A blood sample. While they are all fundamentally similar, in theory there should be the chance that it can be matched with a sample from a dimension that we can then send you back to." He said. Ratchet turned to him skeptically. "Will that work? I mean we haven't exactly had a chance to see if that would even work or if that theory holds true." Ratchet said but Clank as always had a reply ready to go.
"Yes, that would be correct. However we have a chance to test it right here and I have done scans on the net for blood samples of people from both our dimension and Rivet's and they seem to be distinct from one another so this theory does have solid ground to stand on." He supplied and Ratchet had to agree with him as he wouldn't even have the slightest clue on where to start on that subject. "But that is only if Mr Hawthorne here is willing to have a sample taken of course." He added aware that not everybody appreciated it. 

"Just Sep is fine and I wouldn't mind if it means that I can get back home out to my original body. This one is so...furry and I can't tell if I like it or not." He said. Ratchet made the smallest almost imperceptible huff at fur being uncomfortable although he would have to agree to some extent especially during a heat wave.
"OK, well in that case, I will inform Miss Apogee on the decision." Clank said getting off the chair and walking to the door to inform her of the decision. After a few moments, he turned around to look at the two of them. "OK, for a blood sample, we are going to have to go into the proper room to do so." Clank said opening the door the rest of the way for the two of them. Ratchet got up from his chair and gestured for Sep to follow which he did. It was here that Ratchet got a proper taste on just how tall the guy was, He was easily taller than him and nearly matched Talwyn in height. He hoped that it was just a case of him having tall genes and not the possible scenario of him just being short for his species. On the one hand, Rivet being the same height as him decreased the odds of him being short for his species but it wasn't a big enough sample pool to make that conclusion.
Walking alongside him, he also noted his thicker tail that looked similar to his just with a different color pallet. Now that he thought of it, He kind of made him think of a skinnier pallet swapped Alister...Ratchet stopped himself going down that path for all the memories that brought up. They were trying to help this guy with his problem and not the other way around so he did not need to dump all that emotional baggage onto him. 
Thankfully, he was saved from his internal rant as they came to another room as directed by Talwyn.

Upon entering, Sep noticed how it was the same room that he was in before being moved to the new one. The doctor who was in the room kept his eyes on him probably just to make sure he didn't pass out again but he had managed to get his heart rate down to a manageable level even though he still found it overwhelming. Just the idea of his body not being what he was accustomed too didn't sit right with him as his entire being just felt wrong. It was similar but it was so so different that he couldn't grasp it and the thought of this being his body for the rest of his days was something he did not want to fathom. Maybe by hopping dimensions again, it could reverse the process but he wasn't going to be holding out hope at the unlikeliness of the whole thing. "Have a seat Mr Hawthorne." The doctor said gesturing to a seat. With some form of equipment with a glass vial attached to it. Sep took a quick breath before sitting down as it wasn't like he hasn't had his blood spilled before, quite the opposite but they didn't need to know that. At least one of them would probably drop unconscious if they knew just how much blood he has lost over the years. Without prodding, he took the seat and presented his arm for the doctor to do his thing.
"While this is happening and now that you have had some time to wake up, could you tell us exactly how you came here regardless of how weird it is?" Talwyn asked. He looked at her confused for a second before realizing that he never actually said how he got here. He winced as a needle was inserted into his arm in the crook of his elbow as if to punctuate the question even further. He took another breath wondering where the hell he should start. Either from before he woke up in that place or when he did. "OK, this may all sound strange but just bare with me for it." Sep warned. "Take your time." Clank said assuredly. 

"Alright...So I can't quite recall what I was doing before all this happened but what I do know is I woke up in vast expanse of...space I guess. It was a star scape and nebula in the sky and the ground was flat and reflective with nothing as far as I could see. Seeing no other way out, I chose a direction and began walking and after a while, I find a blue crystal. It was about the size of myself just hovering above the ground in the middle of a few craggy rocks pointing away from it. I wasn't sure what to do so I poked it with my Great sword." Sep paused looking pointedly at Talwyn. "On that note, where is all my gear." He demanded with a small growl growing in the back of his throat. "Don't worry, we have all of your items in a locker that only I have the key to and I can assure you that they are safe." She said which seemed to satisfy Sep enough for him to back down and continue his story. "Anyway's, I go to poke it with my great sword which did nothing so I decided to touch it with my right hand" He held it up for emphasis "Then it did something. It started glowing brighter and in its surface was a silhouette of a wrench. I have no idea what the hell that is supposed to mean but I digress. Next thing I know, the ground began to fall away and I started falling which was then I felt like all of my veins were set on fire before I passed out. After that, I woke up in the bed there and...you know the rest." Sep finished right as the Doctor removed the needle and patched up where he inserted it with a band aid.

The trio of lifeforms looked at him with varying levels of emotions. You had Clank which was contemplative whilst the other two shared the feeling of confusion to some degree but mellowed out after a while. "Your taking this better than I thought you would." Sep said. Ratchet decided to chime in. "If I'm being honest, this is not even in the top ten of weirdest things we come across and is decently believable. That is until we reach...this." Ratchet gestured to Sep indicating his Lombax form despite him saying the contrary. "You said that you were a Tiefling-whatever that is-yet you are a lombax." He said. Sep was about to say something but Clank beat him to the punch. "The transformation could have happened at the part where he described his veins being on fire and passing out as according to Miss Apogee's report, he was a lombax when he landed on the cruiser." He said to which Sep gestured his hand too. "That is almost definitely where it happened now that I think about it." He said. "Fascinating." The robot said with a hand on his chin. "You might have been in a inter-dimensional space outside of all other realms not too dissimilar to when we beat tachyon now that I am thinking about it." He said to Ratchets agreement noting how the space sounded similar to that rock they were using as an arena or at least something adjacent to it. Sep jumped in with vigor. "Wait, so you have been to that place before?" He asked hoping they knew at least something about how it worked. 
"We have been in a place similar to it as it sounds like you were in a zone between dimensions but as to how they work is still an unknown to us." Clank reaffirmed. Sep slumped back into the chair with a small groan being no closer to the answers that he needed than before and still no explanation for his current predicament. "So what you are saying is that you have no idea where the hell I came from despite your technological progress." He said which Clank and Talwyn apologetically nodded there heads. Ratchet on the other hand was deep in thought for a moment making his friends look at him in concern. "What are you thinking?" Talwyn asked. Ratchet glanced at her for a bit before the answer finally popped into his head.

"I just had a thought that maybe we don't have the answers but...My dad's notes might...or possibly the archives on Savali." He said recalling how he hadn't gone through those in quite some time. "Either could possibly provide answers though I don't recall Kaden's notes referring to the spaces between dimensions, It is certainly something that is at least worth looking into." Clank agreed making Ratchet smile in earnest and his ears perk up. "Look at you finally growing some brains knucklehead." Talwyn quipped as Ratchet looked at her exasperatedly. "What do you mean, I have always had brains." He replied indignantly as Clank did one of his signature chuckles. "I would beg to differ. Need I bring up the nuclear powered rocket sled for instance." Ratchet deflated as he was once again reminded that Clank was never going to let him live that down for as long as he lived.

Now it was Septimus' turn to be confused at the exchange as the Doctor tapped away at his board of characters that he couldn't understand. "OK, what is this about a nuclear powered rocket sled and who is Kaden and can they help us or not." Sep asked to stop the confusion even if just for a moment. "First off, the nuclear powered rocket sled was one of my best ideas *ever*" Ratchet began grinding out the last word to Clank. "And secondly, Kaden was my dad and...can't help us...directly." Ratchet finished glancing to the ground looking dejected and Sep felt like he just stepped on some ground that he shouldn't have so when Ratchet looked back up, he made sure to look anywhere but his emerald eyes just in case.
"We'd just need to go through his notes which happen to be back on Veldin at my house." He said not seeming to take any offense regarding this kaden so he looked to be fine in that regard. "OK, so we can head back home and go over the notes and possibly consult the archives on Savali if we can't find what we are looking for." Clank said. "Alright, and while your doing that, I can watch over our friend here in the mean time just to make sure he is acclimated to-"
"I am going to have to stop you right there Miss Apogee." Clank interrupted Talwyn. "I believe that the best course of action would be to bring Septimus with us and go over the notes with him in person rather than being in different locations." Clank said before she could object to his uncharacteristic rudeness as he usually waited for someone to finish there sentence before providing commentary. It would usually be Ratchet and not the other way around. But giving the idea some thought and she could see how it made sense but that would be up to there guest of honor. "Is that alright with you?" She asked Septimus.

Septimus looked up at her and nodded his head. "Yeah, I would've suggested something similar myself and I don't think I can stand being in this room for more than a few days if I am being honest." He said gazing around at the pristine white surfaces and bright lights and equipment strewn about that all had that same pristine white surface to them. He wasn't sure why but he just didn't like it. He looked back at Talwyn who looked to be having an internal debate with her self before coming to a decision. "Normally I would object but this is not a normal situation to begin with and is probably the best course of action. If that is the case, I will go grab your stuff for you. be right back." She said to Sep before she turned around and walked out the door. A beep from the machine the doctor came and a list was displayed on the screen he was looking at. "OK, blood test is done and I have the results." he said to the three of them before looking around confused. "Where did Miss Apogee go to?" He asked curious. "She went to grab his stuff as we intend to leave." Ratchet answered which seemed to satisfy the doctor. "That is OK but before you go, I still have some paperwork to fill out and if you don't mind sir, I would like to just do one final checkup to make sure your good and I don't want to offend but...you look malnourished despite your blood test coming back relatively healthy." He said to which Sep rolled his eyes knowing he should have seen that coming at some point. "As long as you don't try to cut me open then I am fine. Also, I am not malnourished. I just have hyper dense muscle." He said which seemed to bridge the gap in the doctors mind as he nodded his head while writing something down. "Just how long will this take exactly." Ratchet asked.

"Shouldn't be more than ten minutes." The doctor said cheerfully much to Septimus' chagrin as he let out a small groan in protest.

Chapter Text

Sep thankfully was able to get all his stuff back and after a once over could confirm that they didn't take anything that wasn't there's. In the back of his mind, he knew that this Polaris defense force didn't have the authority to take his belongings without cause for suspicion or if it was illegal. The other option was because he was a criminal but the only bit of damage that he did do could largely be considered an accident as he never intended to break the windshield in the first place. That still didn't mean that he trusted them not to go through his stuff though. He had too much of value in there to just lose it.
He also wasn't entirely sure about this Ratchet and Clank. On the surface they seemed friendly enough but he didn't know if they had any ulterior motives to helping him or not. Odds said that they really did just want to help him but it could of all just been a really solid act the two were putting on. He hoped it was the former and not the latter but he was keeping himself primed just in case regardless of the outcome.
He looked down into his bag and saw the hilt of his great sword ready to grasp at a moments notice with his gun right next to it. Hopefully, there would be no need for them he thought as they emerged out of the identical corridors of the hospital and to the outside where Sep was utterly starstruck.

He could see numerous buildings stretching high into the sky just scraping through the clouds standing like colossal monoliths over the population. He stopped where he was walking to just take it all in with the tallest buildings in Drahventer never reaching more than ten stories at most and that was for places of governance. Those structures would never come close to these in a thousand years. He could also see various metal vehicles flying between them on invisible routes known only to them. He was rooted to the ground frozen in awe at it all as all his visions of the future could never compare to this. 
"Hey uhh...You alright there?" Ratchet asked cutting through Sep's internal thoughts and snapping him back to reality. He tore his gaze down from the cityscape and back to the concerned looking duo before shaking his head feeling how his large ears flopped around as he did so. "I'm just...a bit overwhelmed is all." He said staring back into the city again unable to take his gaze off of it. Ratchet turned back to see what he was looking at noticing that it was only the city in view. He turned his head back and forth a few times before it finally clicked. "Oh, I get it. First time in the big city I assume." Ratchet said. Sep looked at him again. "No, I grew up in a city, it's just...The one that I grew up in was a powerhouse of industry but it would never even come close to this." Sep replied gesturing out to Luminopolis utterly enamored with it's scale. Just how long did it take to even get to this stage of development he wondered. He couldn't help but let his mind wonder at the thought of how it came to be. "Well, Are you going to stand around all day or are we actually going to get going to Veldin?" Ratchet called out from his burgundy red flying vehicle with the hatch opened awaiting passengers.

Sep somehow managed to pull his gaze from the city and made his way to the vehicle and he saw what looked to be some form of script written on the side that might have been the name but he couldn't read it for the life of him. Even though he was trilingual, this language was not one of those three that he knew. He kept his wondering at bay though as he heard Ratchet clicking on the various controls getting ready to take off. Not wasting any more time, he climbed into the passenger side seat with Clank taking the seat in the back so he wasn't sitting on someones lap all the way to Veldin. As he sat down, he couldn't help but admire the vehicles interior that would have been the lap of luxury for anyone back where he was from with the exception of the nobility who likely would have coated each panel in gold or platinum just because they could. But Ratchet didn't do that as it appeared to be a material of high quality but not enough to be considered opulent by any stretch of the imagination.
The hatch slid back to seal the three occupants inside closing themselves off from the world around them becoming notably quieter. The console in front of them came to life with all the displays lighting up to indicate that the vehicle was indeed active and ready.

"Ratchet, Clank, welcome back. I hope your outing was eventful. And I see that there is a new occupant." The vehicle said spooking Sep as he looked around trying to find the source of the voice. He knew the thing wasn't haunted if the way it addressed the other two was any indication. Ratchet caught onto this and did his best to hide his snicker having never seen that himself as a ship AI was fairly common in most ships. Sep turned his head to look at the snickering Lombax. "The hell you laughing at?" He incredulously asked him to which Ratchet just burst out laughing at his reaction still leaving Sep utterly confused.
"If it is any consolation, Majority of star ships are outfitted with an AI companion to help regulate its functions without the pilot being distracted." Clank said from the back seat so Sep wasn't entirely in the dark. Ratchet had finally calmed down from his laughing fit and looked to Sep. "Sorry, I have just never seen anyone get so spooked at something so mundane before other than Talwyn but then again, she is quite jumpy to begin with soooo." Ratchet trailed off at those times. "I believe a good portion of those are yours to blame Ratchet." Clank said to take the air out of his sails. 
"I agree with Clank based on the tales he has told me." Aphelion chimed in from her silence. "And yet again, even my ship is against me." Ratchet sighed knowing the song and dance well enough.
"I wouldn't betray you if it weren't true mister. Especially if it is a case of the Christmas party two years ago." She said with a mischievous tonal inclination. "Hey, I thought we agreed never to bring that up." Ratchet said going on the defensive. "The two of us agreed but Aphelion was never included in the deal so she gets a free pass." Clank said performing his signature chuckle much to Ratchets chagrin. "But enough about that, who is the new occupant?" Aphelion said bringing the conversation back around to what it was initially about.

Sep was momentarily caught off guard having been listening to the two's small spat wondering just what happened on that Christmas party but he turned to the front console to give his two cents. "Septimus, but just Sep is fine." He informed the ship much to her satisfaction. "I have never heard of a lombax named Septimus before, but it is also a very lovely name. Welcome aboard Mr Septimus." Aphelion said with Sep rolling his eyes at the formality. "Please don't call me that. Just Sep is fine." He reaffirmed not sure where to look as the ship didn't exactly have a face other than the outer hull. "Alright, Sep it is and are you the Lombax from the report that we received just hours ago?" Aphelion asked. Sep wasn't sure and just turned to the other two to answer for him as he was unaware they got a report on him in the first place. "He indeed would be and we are heading back to Veldin to go through Kaden's notes in hopes of finding out where he came from." Clank informed Aphelion as Ratchet was finishing up his pre flight checks surprisingly enough. Must be the pressure of having a passenger that wasn't Clank.
"Can't you just take a blood sample and find the dimension through a bio signature?" She asked. Clank was going to answer but was interrupted by Sep. "My blood is that of a Tiefling and not a Lombax."
"More accurately. We because of his unique experience of being in a body other than his own, we don't know what dimension he could have came from in the first place to even begin to look." Clank said with Aphelion letting out a satisfied hmm at his reasoning. 

It was just then that the whole ship began to hum as the engines hummed to life and began to hover up off the ground with Sep pushing himself into the seat and grabbing onto the nearest surface that did not go unnoticed by the other two. "First time flying?" Ratchet asked. Sep didn't say anything and just nodded knowing that no amount of acting was going to hide his nerve's from his current companions. "Well, your in for a treat Sep, you never forget the first time you fly, believe me." And with that, Ratchet pressed his foot down on the throttle pulling the wheel back and they started to ascend. 
Sep had his head locked into the forward position absolutely nervous knowing that humanoid beings such as himself were never meant to fly. He also had so many terrible scenarios running through his head and they all spelled in there doom in one way or another. What if the engine breaks, what if the canopy breaks and they are left starving for air. What if they fell out of the sky and crashed directly into the ground with no hope of slowing down. Ratchet increased the throttle and now he could feel the entirety of the ship just barely shaking and he couldn't help but think that maybe the ship would rip itself apart through the stress of rapid ascension and speed. After about a minute of this, The shaking stopped and the only thing on the ship he could feel was the gentle almost soothing hum of the engines propelling them forward but he stayed where he was afraid it was the calm before the storm. Ratchet looked over and saw this and was visibly concerned but had heard that this was what some people felt the first time they had ever flown so he wasn't too surprised. "You can relax now." Sep momentarily jumped out of his skin having been so focused on the turbulence that he wasn't perceiving anything else until Ratchet had intervened. He shakily let go of the handle he was holding for safety before getting into a more comfortable position letting his heart settle and then he saw it. He saw the black abyss that was space but could also see a beautiful nebula in the distance with more stars than he could count. They dotted the abyss like specks of white paint flung onto a canvas and he was utterly enamored with it. The nebula itself stretched across the horizon in an absolute spectacle of color with the distant stars emboldening it even further. Sep finally relaxed no longer afraid of the ship tearing itself apart and instead just took in the sight of the universe beyond a planets atmosphere for the first time in his life. 

"Interesting." Sep heard from behind him knowing it was Clank. His voice cutting through his thoughts pulled him out of it and he turned around to better look at the robot in question. "Are your pupils unique to your species?" Clank asked and Sep knew what he was on about. He turned around and looked at the rear view mirror and saw that his pupils had indeed changed to an electric cyan color with the black serving to accentuate them. "Whoa, that is cool." Ratchet chimed in once he noticed what Clank was talking about. Sep looked away from them nervously and focused on calming down as much as he could. His pupils taking on a electric cyan color wasn't new and he had them all his life but they only appeared during points of heightened emotion. He took long breaths and after a bit, he looked in the mirror and saw the familiar black abyss his eyes normally were and relaxed. He turned to his two audience members no doubt wanting an explanation. "Unique to myself. Even among Tiefling's, I am weird." He said as he turned back to look out of the canopy to the endless expanse of space. Sep was so used to the cramped alleys of cities and towns and the occasional time he had to walk out in open plains where you could see the cosmos with the naked eye without a problem, But this. There was no beating a view like this while being planet side. It just felt truly endless with possibilities and the nebula gave it this artistic impression. As if an artist took a giant paintbrush and performed one giant masterful stroke across the horizon serving as the canvas.

"Are you properly acclimated to space Septimus?" Aphelion poked through his daydreaming spooking him again. He was not going to get used to that, Was he. If it was an organic person sitting in the next seat over then he would be fine but the fact that Aphelion didn't really have a body other than the ship and he could see a face was disconcerting to say the least. "Um, just taking it all in I guess." The words fell out of his mouth not really having to think about this possibility. "Well, prepare for an even greater sight. Hyper Drive is almost ready." Ratchet said as he was maneuvering into position. Add another point to the confusion tracker as he looked over at Ratchet for an explanation. He was too preoccupied with flying the ship so he turned to Clank for an explanation. "Hyper Drive?" He questioned.
"Hm, Oh yes. A device that is outfitted on most star ships for interstellar travel at faster than light speeds. I suppose your civilization has not yet reached this point in development." Sep widened his eyes at the claim. Faster than Light. Pretty much every Scientist and Physicist worth there salt had come to the same conclusion that such a thing was straight up impossible. It wasn't up to debate as it was just straight up fact. The only exception to that was through various Teleportation spells but that was a whole other can of worms that involved more magical expertise than he had in his head at the moment. He was brought out of his thoughts as the engines changed there rhythm to something more energetic and sounding like they were going to explode. "Please remain seated and buckle up for Hyper Space." Aphelion said as the console lit up with a button reading something that Sep could not understand again but he had a fair idea of what it was. He heeded Aphelion's warning and put on his seat belt and remained seated. 

Ratchet leaned forward and pressed the button on screen once everyone was secure. The ship began moving forward although he couldn't tell with the distances so vast but Sep did see the space around the ship begin to change. Streaks of color encroached around the ship with a central point converging just ahead of the ships nose glowing brighter by the second. After a few moments, The ship lurched forward as the stars fell away becoming white streaks shooting behind them as they entered a tunnel of those same streaks that got them there. There was a white spot dead ahead of them that seemed both so close yet so far with the Bands of energy coming from it giving him the mental image of a tunnel made from pure energy. Sep was once again lost in his thoughts at the sight as this society was just showing him marvels that no group of Artificers could ever dream of like it were nothing because that was just it. To them, it was nothing. He couldn't stop staring at it even as Aphelions voice tried to cut through his thoughts again. "We will arrive at Veldin in approximately four hours."
Ratchet leaned back into the pilot seat sighing most likely having done this trip so many times that it had lost all it's luster in his eyes. That was until he looked over at Sep seemingly Starstruck by the Hyper space tunnel with it reflecting in his eyes that now resembled shiny black glass. "Excuse me Septimus but, Because it is going to be four hours before we arrive on Veldin, I have a few questions I would like to ask." Clank cut through Sep's thoughts as he was trying to parse just how these energy walls could have been formed by something that shouldn't be any larger than that of a large crate. He turned around to look at the Robot curiously. "Because of what you have told us and your reactions to what is mundane to us at least, I was curious if you could tell us more about your civilization for a point of comparison. For scientific reasons of course." Clank explained his rationale. Sep thought about it for a moment and this being considered mundane was truly staggering to him. He could also see the rationale behind the robots want for scientific research as this was an opportunity that you simply did not get ever. He probably would have been curious too if he were in the same position as Clank if he was being honest. He turned to look at the Robot and to Ratchet who had swiveled his seat around to look at him as well no doubt curious himself. "I am not sure how much I can give you but as long as you don't ask anything personal then it is fine." He finally said.

Somehow, despite having a mouth that was a solid metal piece, Sep could see the Robot smiling despite his facial features saying that he couldn't. This place just keeps getting weirder and Weirder he thought.

The ship lurched as it finally exited Hyperspace after four long hours of answering questions about Septimus' home asked and answered to the best of his abilities. He wasn't the most knowledgeable about the inner workings of where he came from having never got a chance to just sit and look them over. He also broke up the monotony of conversation by looking out the window and into the dazzling lights of Hyper Space which he still found staggering just how far ahead these guys were compared to where he came from. Then came Re-entry. After they exited Hyper Space, Sep looked down to there destination. A world that according to his two companions was completely covered in desert and badlands. They were approaching the night side right on the edge where day and night met. As they got closer, He felt the ship begin to shake again like when they were leaving Luminopolis and instinctively pushed himself into his seat grabbing a handle to steady himself.
"I can assure you that there is nothing to worry about when it comes to re-entry." Clank piped up from behind him letting Ratchet fly them down to the planets surface. 
"Kind of hard not to worry when i have never experienced this before." Septimus said through gritted teeth as the atmosphere engulfed them and the sun diffused in kind. It was a few death gripping minutes as they descended through the clouds with Ratchet turning on the lights halfway down before the turbulence finally settled down enough for him to take a breath. 

Sep took a few deep breaths to steady himself unsure if he would ever get used to it no matter how long he would be staying in this realm. He kept his eyes locked on the console as they flew down and gently landed on a dusty landing pad outside of what looked like a run down shack kicking up dust as they did so. Ratchet powered down Aphelion flipping switches before finally pulling on a lever off to the side letting the Canopy slide forward to allow it's passengers out. Sep stayed seated even as Ratchet jumped out indifferent to it all but stopped as he noticed that Sep wasn't moving. "You ok there bud?" He asked. "Just catching my breath." Sep raised his hand to settle his concern as he just sat there slowing his breathing down to a much steadier pace. Who knew that the most simple things could be so scary. "Take your time, I'll get some dinner going." Clank climbed out and exited the pilots side of the canopy giving Sep some space. 
Ratchet and Clank were about halfway to there house when they heard a thump in the sand and turned around to see Sep on shaky legs leaning on the side of Aphelion. He took a few tentative steps feeling the sand between his toes finding that it helped to ground him having to live in it for his whole life up until recently. Once he felt that, he finally let go of his support and closed the distance to the two who finished the gap between the door and Aphelion whose canopy had closed by then. Ratchet opened the door for him letting him in as the host should. It was dark inside before a switch was flicked illuminating it all and Sep couldn't help but glance at where it came from. Even something as light on demand was a novelty even in the best of times where he was from...Then he looked down. Ratchet and Clanks dwelling wasn't the pristine and harsh whites that the hospital room was but instead a more warm color pallete overall. Everything looked like it had seen some use and was added as life went along with almost none of it being predetermined yet still being somewhat clean and liveable. 

Clank walked past him into the kitchen area where he began to slide cupboards in and out grabbing what he needed as Ratchet closed the door behind them. "Welp, welcome to base RnC i guess. You can place your stuff anywhere you like, Restroom is down the hall, first door on the left and...yeah thats about it I guess." Ratchet announced placing his hands on his hips before looking towards Sep to gauge his reaction. It was probably the most neutral face he had all day. "I know it is not nearly as impressive as what you find in Luminopolis but-"
"It's alright." Sep cut in before Ratchet could finish his sentence. "I mean, I know this isn't the best but...I think the harsh white lights whould almost definitely drive me nuts after a while. Not with this place though." He commented folding his arms just looking around the place. He then pulled his arm out while Ratchet went into the kitchen to check on Clank and saw blood. Sep's eyes widened as he lifted his non organic arm up and saw that the socket had blood seeping from it. He quickly dropped his arm back down to his side in the event that Either Ratchet or Clank were looking. thankfully they weren't but he didn't want to alarm them. He looked around as he was thinking of an excuse to check before he stopped and gave himself a sniff. Sure he wasn't the most cleanly of people but even he knew when he stunk. He peaked into the Kitchen to see The two others fussing over the food on the bench. He stepped out to greet them with his question. "Mind if I borrow your shower for a bit?" Sep asked to which Ratchet just nodded his head and gave him directions. 

Having his directions, Sep grabbed his bag which had all of his belongings in it and marched to the bathroom. The moment he closed the door, he instantly pulled off the shirt that the hospital had provided him and turned to the mirror. He pulled out a set of tools specifically designed to remove his arm from his body both for ease of maintenance and so it wouldn't fall off every ten seconds. He disconnected the plates that stretched across his chest and shoulder blade used to support it in place of his non existent shoulder which he otherwise would have used. Tentatively, he set the metal limb on the ground and turned his body to look at the injury. He noticed only the slightest bit of pinching earlier in the day but that wasn't out of the ordinary for him but it never led to this. It wasn't life threatening or anything but it was still concerning nonetheless. He gave it the once over and noticed that his new physiology had thrown everything out of wack. The ligaments and muscles that his arm normally sat on comfortably weren't where they should have been. He sighed as he would have to readjust that which was always finicky at best but that was being an Artificer for ya, a job was never done. Regardless of it, he actually did realize that he wanted a shower.
It took a bit to figure out which knobs did what but he got it soon enough. He just stood there letting the hot water run down his whole body and through his fur letting himself relax in it's warm embrace. He leaned on the wall of the shower just watching the blood from his stump wash away until it stopped flowing. He also took the time to look down and really examine this new body he found himself with and comparing it to his usual tiefling self. Gone were his horns and thick lizard like tail and in there place were ears nearly as big as his head and a skinny tail that ended in a tuft of fur all the while he was covered in white stripes all over. He noted that it had more muscle and was longer than Ratchet's but that wasn't a high bar to clear. He also felt significantly heavier after a while feeling the water collect in his fur and weigh him down. The only thing that was really similar in terms of physiology was his feet which most resembled what they used to minus a claw of course. He ran his hand through his hair which still reached down to his lower back taking comfort in one of the other few things to survive the transition. It was so weird to him to look in the mirror and see a familiar yet different face staring back at him. He didn't feel comfortable in his own skin anymore and he didn't like it. It almost felt like he had been turned into a feline with the consitency of fur all across his body and now wasn't sure if that would have been a better fate than this.
Actually, he did know. This was almost certainly the better deal as he at least had posable fingers and the dexterity to use them properly. He pulled himself back from his thoughts thinking about just how long he had been in the shower. It was at least long enough for the bleeding to stop on his stump but he couldn't tell if that was a few seconds or a few minutes. He had to finish up if he wanted something to eat noting how his stomach was knawing at him.

A few minutes later, Sep had washed up and honestly felt a whole lot better than before as he put on his old clothes consisting of pants and an old black crop top he had for forever. He was still running his head through the towel he got from the cupboard when the smell of something good had wafted into his nose. He ran his hand through his hair and fur one more time and deemed it dry enough to enter the living room and walked out to see what was prepared. The first thing that Sep had noticed was that the table wasn't actually a table and instead looked to be a section of a wing from a ship of some sort. "Ah, perfect timing, I was just dishing out." Clank said as he brought two plates over to the table and sat them on each respective side. Ratchet had emerged from somewhere and took a seat on one side of the table and gestured for Sep to take the other. Sep tentatively took the seat that was gestured too and looked down at what was provided. It looked to be a simple meat with spuds. At least it was something familiar which didn't sound right as it would logically be something different being in a different dimension and whatnot. Ratchet had already taken a bite out of his meat and seemed to be doing so without anything going wrong. Sep waited a few moments before he finally took a bite out of his meat albeit with some dificulty having to do it one handed. Once he took a bite though, his eyes widened as it was really damn good. A whole lot better than what he could do and certainly better than most places he had ever been to but he couldn't help but pickup that there was something different to this food that he couldn't put his tongue on. Either way, he promptly dug in as much as he could with Clank looking towards him. "It seems that my cooking is good even across dimensions it seems." He said making Sep stop eating to look at him. He then noticed that he was eating more like a wild animal than a sentient being and so, slowed himself down and sat properly. "I just...It's really good." He said wondering why he said it like that.

"Nothing to be ashamed about dude, Clanks cooking is par to none." Ratchet piped up from his side of the table. "Although, I don't think I have ever seen anyone go that crazy for it." he took another bite of his meat. "I can recall one time and it was the very first time that I cooked for you when we first met. You were like a wild animal." Clank astutely noted. "I mean, could you blame me." He asked incredulously. "Your cooking is some of the best this side of Solana for crying out loud." He added.
"I second that, It is really good." Sep chimed in. He motioned to grab the knife set out before him with his right hand but stopped once he realized that he wasn't wearing his prosthetic at the moment. He shrunk back in embarrasment as that had happened on more than one occasion and you would think that he would have got it out of his system a long time ago but apparently not. It was something that both of his hosts picked up on. Ratchet was the first one to put his fork down letting his own curiosity take over noticing Seps stump. "If you don't mind me asking." Sep raised his head up from his plate as Ratchet gestured to where his arm should have been. "How did you...ya know?"

"Workshop accident." Sep answered before Ratchet could finish what he was going to say. He had been asked the question enough times to have a rehearsed answer ready to go at a moments notice. Kind of hard not to when the injury was so visible. "Huh." Ratchet said dumbly before returning to his meal too easily satisfied with the answer for his liking. Sep turned to look at Clank for an explanation. "We have multiple friends who are amputees and it they lost them in more dramatic ways than an accident as in your case." Clank supplied. Sep nodded along at the explanation and conceded that it was definitely reasonable. There were only so many times you could do something before it lost all the charm it once had. Speaking of which. "Umm. You mind if I use your garage for tools. Some stuff on my Prosthetic got thrown out of alignment in the fall and I need to repair it." Sep explained knowing it was best not to use someone elses tools without asking unless they were hogging it without using it then that was a different story entirely. "Hmm, oh yeah, that is absolutely ok. I am not going to let a fellow Mechanic be denied to make something." Ratchet responded with a glint in his eye. Sep knew that glint having seen it all the time in the workshop from people who just loved to creat stuff regardless of its purpose. He nodded as his way of thanks and continued on with his respective meal finding that he simply couldn't get enough of it. Then again he wasn't that good of a cook himself so that probably had something to do with it. 
"I will leave you two to it as I have a blood sample to run some tests on." Clank said as he hopped off of his seat and made his way to a different room in the house. Sep was about to take another bite but found that his fork met nothing as it clinked with the plate. Looking down, he realized that he had finished his meal without even realizing it. He looked all around with his eyes at nothing and everything as if there was a secret second portion there for him but that was just wishful thinking. He placed his fork on the table before leaning back into his chair and just looking around taking in the dwelliing he had found himself in. It didn't look to be anything special as it jsut looked like a home. He couldn't help but hink of the last time he had ever lived in one all those...No, he had more important priorities than ruminating on the past, he had a prosthetic to fix. 

Sep excused himself as he went to where he had placed his prosthetic and took it into the garage per Ratchet's directions. Flipping on the light switch that he didn't bother to hide his wonder at for the split second he did it, he gazed out into the frankly messy garage. There were ship parts strewn all about along with some tools spread around an empty space in the middle where he thought that Ratchet had previously had the ship they were working on before he came along. It was something that he asked on the flight from Luminopolis over to Veldin. He couldn't help but look at everything feeling like he was back in the workshop again. The only thing missing was his Mentor guiding him as he learnt how mechanics worked and how to apply them in everyday life. He sighed wistfully as he would have given nearly everything to just have those days back. He walked over to what seemed to be the main work bench and set his arm onto it turning on a desk lamp to illuminate the space. He then took off his croptop so he could more accurately measure everything on his person so he could properly set the adjustments so he didn't have the problem of the metal biting into his skin and causing bleeding. Thankfully, There were measuring tools at the ready and he used all the ones that did what he needed. After a good thirty minutes of adjusting screws, recalibrating accuators and setting the prosthetic in place, he was done. The Prosthetic clicked into place like it should and he flexed the fingers and performed all of his usual checks to make sure it was still working and it was. The most he had to do was to tighten up a few loose screws he had missed but that was mostly a non issue to him. He turned around and leaned back on the workbench looking up at the ceiling as he thought about just what had happened over the course of one day.

He had been thrown through dimensions and had woken up in a body that was not his own for starters. Then he got a culture shock of a lifetime as he had seemingly been thrown into the far future beyond what anybody could ever dream of. And now he was under the care of somebody who was the race that he could now claim he was apart of. Then the cherry on top was that he could travel faster than light and apparently jump dimensions on a whim. That last one wasn't entirely new to him as there were spells that could allow the user to do such things but he never imagined that he would get anywhere close to that level in his liftime. It was utter madness for a day.
"Holy Qwark." Sep heard from across the way and when he turned, he saw a stunned Ratchet staring at him leaning his back on the workbench...shirtless. Realizing this, Sep quickly stood up and slipped his top back on before anything more could be said. What the hell was wrong with him going shitless in another mans space. He stood there guiltily for a second staring at the ground before slumping his shoulders. "I know I should have asked about clothing in here and I am sorry I-"
"Oh, no no. There is nothing to be sorry about. I was just caught off guard is all. Not by you being shirtless, but by what was under the shirt." Ratchet said before Sep could finish.
Sep titled his head in confusion unsure of what he was on about. "Those metal plates on your chest, are those part of your Prosthetic?" Ratchet asked clearing up the confusion.
Sep perked up now that the message was clear and he silently nodded not really caring about that. "I didn't think Prosthetics needed that much support." Ratchet said putting his chin in his hand thinking about it. "Arm was cut off at the shoulder and I had nothing to support the new limb so the plates it was." Sep explained unconsciously moving his hands over it. "That looks painful if I am being honest." Ratchet said.
"Yeah well, didn't exactly have cutting edge tech where I came from." Sep explained again. "I wonder if Al or Rivet could help with that." Ratchet mused as he turned his head in thought. "Who?" Sep asked. Ratchet turned his head back and realized that he hadn't talked about those two to him yet. "Oh right, Those two are firends of ours who also lost there arms and replaced them with Prosthetics. Same arm too now that I think about it." He thought looking to his own right arm. "Maybe they could help make you a new socket that doesn't hurt as much. I am not sure about how Al has his attached but Rivet's doesn't have the supports going across her chest like you as it is just right on the shoulder and nothing more." He further thought aloud."Well, perhaps add that to the list of stuff to do while I am here then." Sep proposed because as much as he prided himself on the design, He knew that it had some absolutely glaring flaws with comfort. Such a simple thing could go a long way with how much he did day to day.

"Well, If Clanks results and My Dad's notes come up empty then the dimensional archives in her dimension it would be. Plus, I think she would be more than curious about your prosthetic herself. Depends on if she is busy or not." Ratchet placed his hand on his hip as he looked into space while thinking the idea and its logistics. "I guess we will have to wait to see if we get a chance then." Sep chimed in. "Yeah, if we get a chance. Robot Emperor of hers was finally taken down a few months ago and she is helping out with the reformation efforts which if my experience is anything to go off of then she is not getting any chances for rest whatsoever." Ratchet added looking at Sep seeing the confusion meter be brought up a notch. "Long story." He added. "Lets save that for another time." Sep suggested to which Ratchet agreed.
It wasn't too long after that Sep was given the couch as a sleeping arrangement for the night as Ratchet didn't have a guest room on hand as he didn't get that many guests all too often. Sep didn't mind having slept in much worse himself over the years. But after a while, even his Insomnia decided to give hima break today as he finally fell asleep.

Chapter Text

The alarm blared loudly next to Ratchet as he grumbled something about five more minutes as he hit the snooze button which he had labeled with 'SHUT UP' because that was exactly what it was. A Shut up button. Five more minutes passed before it began to blare again and Ratchet was forced to turn back over and look at the time displayed on the clock before he remembered something else. His eyes shot open as he hit the off button properly this time as he remembered his guest sleeping on the couch. He looked around the room and found that Clank wasn't in there but a quick sniff of the air told him that Clank was in the Kitchen cooking breakfast for everybody. That also begged the question of if there guest was awake or not. He could be awake of his own accord or Clank could have woken him up but that didn't sound like something he would do. Clank was too polite for that unless it was an emergency of course.
Regardless, Ratchet got himself out of bed and put on some clothes so he was somewhat presentable. He did this with a sense of giddiness even though there guest wasn't a true Lombax but instead someone who got transformed into one somehow. But that didn't stop the giddy feeling from leaving him as he had only met a handful of Lombaxes in his whole life and each time it was something he wouldn't forget easily. It was somewhat diminished the day before when Septimus explained himself as being something called a Tiefling but it wasn't entirely gone. Then there was the whole never having grown up with technology and his use of magic that made him all the more intriguing. His home world couldn't be that far off from an industrial revolution if his arm was anything to go off of but that could also be a case of a stellar education or a sharp mind. But this wasn't the time for those questions which would hopefully reveal themselves in due time but for the moment, he needed something to eat.

Ratchet yawned as he walked through the doorway connecting the hallway and living room together and saw a tall Red and white not a Lombax sleeping on the couch with his mechanical arm on the floor along with his belongings. He heard sizzling coming from the kitchen and walked over to it making sure to be a s quiet as possible for there guest. When he turned the corner, He saw Clank standing on a stool to reach a frying pan with bits of bacon sizzling in the pan with eggs and sausages in another. The robot in question perked his head up and turned towards Ratchet with his large green L,E,D eyes of his.
"Good Morning Ratchet. I hope you slept well." He said as he always did in the morning. "Morning to you too Clank." Ratchet replied as usual as he sidled up to the bench and leaned backwards on it looking in the direction of the living room. Clank dished up the breakfast onto two plates not quite used to doing it even with Rivet having come over on occasion in the months following the Rift incident. When he was done, He turned to look to Ratchet who had a Quizzacious look on his face. He was about to speak up but Ratchet beat him to the punch. "Has he woken up yet?" Ratchet asked vaguely pointing in the general direction of there metaphorical sleeping beauty. 
"No he has not and I thought it would be rude to wake him up especially after what he has been through." Clank said moving the plates from the bench to the table. "Although it would be beneficial if he wants a warm meal." He added directing the comment to Ratchet with the underlying meaning being crystal clear. Ratchet would be the one to wake him up.

Ratchet huffed a small breath as he pushed himself off the counter and made his way in front of the couch where the Tiefling...Lombax..guy? was sleeping with his arm completely covered by the blanket they had found for him in the hallway cupboard. Ratchet's brain power wasn't on full charge in the mornings so he didn't even think of doing this with any tact and just decided to go with the simple approach. "Hey Sep, You hungry?" He asked but got no result. The most he got was him stirring a bit with a twitch of his ear but that meant nothing. Just because a Lombax twitches there ears, it didn't mean they necessarily heard you. The body would hear you but the mind wouldn't. Crossing his arms, Ratchet tilted his body to look at him from a variety of angles before shrugging and going with a more direct approach. "Wakey wakey, eggs and-WOAH!" The moment Ratchet put his hand to Sep's shoulder was also the same moment that a crowbar came hurtling towards Ratchets head which he swiftly stepped back from with the crowbar missing him entirely and almost hitting the floor. When Ratchet looked back up, he saw Septimus holding the crowbar in his still organic hand looking at him with focused fury in his eyes which diminished after a few seconds. It looked like he came back to his senses as he looked from Ratchet to the crowbar and back a few times before he quietly placed it next to his mechanical arm looking embarrassed as he put his hand on the back of his head. Ratchet was looking at him cautiously with his eyes doing all the questioning which Sep seemed to pick up on. 
"Force of habit...Sorry." He said rubbing the back of his head looking away from Ratchet. Ratchet glanced from his face to the crowbar and back before speaking up. "Is that going to be a regular thing?" He addressed the elephant in the room. Sep looked back to him hoping this wouldn't warrant Ratchet throwing him out. It seemed unlikely as the conversation from the previous night had given him insight into who Ratchet was as a person and that didn't seem like him. But he couldn't be sure until that moment comes around. "More or less...just don't touch me when I am sleeping...If I sleep." He said sheepishly.
"If you sleep?" Ratchet questioned.
"Insomnia." Was the reply that he got and he nodded his head in understanding. Granted his sleep schedule was a mess but that was mostly because some of his projects take him longer than he thinks and he often times gets so enraptured in a project he looses track of time completely. While it wasn't a one to one per se, but he could see where he was coming from with last night seeming to be a fluke that he managed to get to sleep.

The two just sat and stood staring at each other respectively in awkward silence. It stretched on for a few more moments with neither sure how to proceed but that was quickly taken care of by an outside voice. "Septimus, would you like some breakfast before it gets cold?" Clank asked from the dining table snapping the two of them out of the awkward silence. "Uh..yeah...that would be nice." Sep spoke up first as he leaned down to reattach his arm thankful that neither of his hosts decided to take a closer look at it without his permission. He does not need to hunt them down for a drive core...again. Ratchet went to take his seat while Sep did that and leaned in to Clank to ask something. "Did you know he was sleeping with a crowbar?" He asked. "I was unaware he had one, let alone slept with it." Clank replied before looking at Ratchet curiously. "Outside of nearly being hit with it, what are you implying?" Ratchet just sat there looking at Septimus thinking about his habit of sleeping with a weapon. He couldn't help but think that something such as that meant a dangerous life where you had to constantly watch your back lest you find a knife there. He of all people should know as he used to do it before he got his workshop and got into the business of being a hero. That would be something he would have to ask him another time though. "Just jogged something in the back of my head is all." He said before picking up his fork and waiting as Septimus took a seat at the table.
They then got sucked into breakfast where Sep was granted the pleasure of experiencing Clanks culinary skills. He couldn't exactly remember the last time he had had a full blown breakfast like this but he savored every bite as best he could. It wasn't long until both plates were finished and had been moved to the sink for cleaning later. Ratchet then went into the back of the house to grab a box which he then placed onto the table with Sep looking around it in curiosity. "What...is this?" He asked. "This..." Ratchet began as he pulled the lid of the box off and onto the floor beside him. "Is a collection of notes my Dad made when he was studying Dimensionality and helping map out the entire multiverse." He then pulled out a stack of papers and set them in front of them. "With any luck, we should be able to find out where you came from based on your evidence." He added as he began to organize the papers as best he could. "What about the blood sample?" Sep questioned gazing over all the papers. Ratchet stopped his sorting and turned his head to Clank who had been sitting in another chair ready to step in when necessary and that time was now. "Results came back negative for any definitive location and do not match any dimension on record." He said with a solemn nod knowing that it was a bit of a long shot. "The only real useful information I could parse from your blood is that you are a universal donor." He added which both of the organics in the room found more interesting than useful. 

"Well, this information isn't going to peruse itself so you wanna take a pile and start going through it." Ratchet said to which everyone agreed and grabbed a pile. Or at least Sep would have begun to look through the writings if he could even read them in the first place. They were written in a language that consisted of numerous glyphs made to look like nuts and bolts and he could not understand a word of it. He slowly lowered the page to glance up at the two of them who had each taken a page and had begun to read through them. "Uhh...question." He began with both of their heads perking up at his voice. "You wouldn't happen to have a...translator on hand...would you?" He asked somewhat embarrassed to ask it. He could speak, read and write three different languages so to need help with another language was something that he was loathe to admit even when he subconsciously knew that it was a common thing no mater where you went.
Ratchet's mind worked for a few seconds before his eyes went wide with realization before he face palmed muttering how the hell he forgot all about that part. "OK, I am gonna be honest and say that I had completely forgot about that part." He began before hanging his head back in thought. "And I don't have a universal translator sitting around either other than the computer but that probably doesn't have Lombax as an option." He said thinking of a way to explain the writings without literally leaning over the guys shoulder and telling him what each word was exactly like they were a preschooler. The thoughts swam through his head before Clank piped up from beside him. "If I may. If I go to the workshop and get a spare monitor, I could act as a translator for Septimus here and just auto translate." He suggested and Ratchet tilted his head thinking it over and it wasn't the worst idea even if it would slow down research a bit. "That could work." He mused before looking over to Septimus silently asking if that would work. ideally, he would teach him the language the same way that Talwyn taught him and subsequently, he taught Rivet but that wasn't exactly doable at the moment. "Depends if Clank here can translate into either Infernal or common." Sep said throwing the two of them for a loop never hearing of Common be a term for languages and certainly not Infernal. They both looked at each other asking the same questions in there head before turning back to Septimus. "Could you provide a sample of each?" Clank asked intending to get a full lexicon of the respective languages so he could translate more effectively. "Got a pen and paper?" Sep asked.

It was two hours later before the three of them all leaned back in there respective seats having found absolutely nothing more than when they started. They managed to get Clank translating just fine after a good thirty minutes of explaining the Infernal lexicon to him which he found fascinating. He didn't go with common because he just preferred to write in Infernal and it would have added time if he had to explain a second Alphabet to them. But they got it working just fine enough. But that didn't reveal anything to them. They had poured over the papers at least a few times to find anything matching Sep's description from the day before but nothing. The most they got was a refresher on how the Inter dimensional worked. Sep found every bit of it to be fascinating naturally but he didn't exactly give him self room to enjoy it being more concerned with finding a way back home and all. He then looked over the seas of papers that covered the tables surface and thought that it felt a little underwhelming all things considered so he leaned forward to Ratchet. "Are you sure this is all of your Dad's research." He asked. Ratchet leaned his head forward nodding to him. "Ee-yup, if there was more then it was likely lost long before Alister found it." He said looking over a page again in hopes of finding something. "Alister?" Sep inquired recalling that Ratchet said his Dads name was Kaden. Ratchet froze in place seeing that he was caught and hearing that name again. He looked around for anything to pull him out of the conversation but something about those solid black eyes constantly pulled him back. They were almost like black holes now that he thought about it. Sep wasn't even trying to be inquisitive and yet they were having this kind of effect on them was...something. Ratchet then sighed and leaned back. "Friend of my Dad before he...uh...kicked the bucket." Ratchet supplied in way of explanation and Sep couldn't help but feel that there was something else there hiding just under the surface.
He didn't pry into it as he got that same feeling whenever he thought about Nimura or if anyone else brought them up.
"Well, I suppose it is going to be a trip to the archives then. Maybe we can meet up with Rivet and Kit while we are there." Clank said to alleviate the tension in the air knowing the emotional baggage behind bringing up anything even remotely involving Alister in Ratchets vicinity.
"Indeed...After a stop to grummels." Ratchet said as he picked up his stack of papers to put back into the box. Sep perked his head up at the new name. "Who is that?" he asked. Clank emitted a tired sigh knowing exactly where this was going. "The Grummelnet is a weapons manufacturer that we have bought from before along with Megacorp and Gadgetron and we don't need more weapons Ratchet." Clank explained as he looked at Ratchet with a tired tilt to his head. 

"Not us, him." Ratchet hand waved away pointing to Sep. "I have weapons of my own." He said. "Okay, fair enough But how strong are they?" Sep was about to answer before the thought festered for a few more seconds and he thought over his response. When he had built his gun, nothing like it existed where he came from so there wasn't really any standard form of measurement for any attribute for him to compare to. The closest comparison would be that of a crossbow but even he knew that it was so far beyond that that it didn't even matter in the slightest. The only real edge was the secondary trigger he had built into its design so he could use magic instead of ammunition. But all that begged the question of if his bullets penetration power was enough to overcome Armour of whatever foe existed in this dimension. "I...am not sure. I don't exactly have a unit of measurement that would be applicable here. And it is one of a kind." Sep eventually explained. Ratchet locked eyes with him all of a sudden and he could almost swear he saw literal stars in his eyes. "Can I see it?" Ratchet asked. Sep recoiled a bit at his enthusiasm and looked him up and down with that sly grin of his. He then looked over to Clank for answers and the robot acquiesced. "It is probably best you show him otherwise he will be pestering you into next week about it." Sep followed the robots advice and got up from his seat to go over to his bag which he then brought over to the table and got to digging around for it. Clank was also extremely curious on the bag as it seemed to hold more than its form would suggest otherwise in a manner similar to Ratchets arsenal tool. 
Apparently, the weapon in question was really deep down in the bag as Sep had to pull out a few other items including but not limited to a crowbar, journal, posters of some kind, scrap metal, and a two handed longsword. The sword stayed on the table and Clank couldn't help but look over it as they have been out of date for many years unless of course you were a pirate. But this one looked to be custom made and appearing ancient by there standards. Sep then finally pulled out what he was looking for and held it in his hands for the both of them to see. "I'll let you be the judge." He said presenting the grip of the weapon to Ratchet to look over. Ratchet took it being careful not to go anywhere near the trigger because contrary to popular belief, Ratchet did know gun safety.

The gun itself was considerably smaller than most weapons he was used to operating and looked more like something a backwater militia would use. It was a revolver with a secondary trigger on the bottom of the trigger guard connected to the top of the cylinder that held the individual chambers. It had a longer forward slanting grip like many pirate pistols except it did not flare towards the bottom and was mostly uniform all the way through. The most interesting thing to him though was the symbol engraved on the side of the barrel towards the end of it. It wasn't one that he recognized but it almost looked like it was burned onto the side with the unevenness of the lines. The only other notable thing was the porting on the top of the barrel which he could appreciate having done it to a few of his lighter weapons himself. He held it aiming into no where to get a feel for it and the grip felt solid and wasn't going to rattle and possibly cause injury. It was also quite comfy being made of some kind of wood he couldn't identify but it was overall ergonomically sound. He then looked up to Sep for another critical question when determining the strength of any gun. "What kind of ammo doe sit take?" He asked. Sep looked over the table before he grabbed a wooden box that when opened revealed a set of bullets. Ratchet set the gun down on the table before grabbing one and looking it over. It wasn't anything special other than the reflection of the metal slug which was warm when compared to the light shining down on it. "Is that a Silver bullet?" Clank asked turning his head to Sep who nodded. "Why Silver if I may ask?" Sep turned his head to Ratchet who had the same question on his face and there really wasn't anything to hide with this unlike most things about his inventions. "Never know when you will encounter a Were creature." Was his response. Ratchet and Clank just nod along adding that to the list of oddities with there guest.
"Who was the manufacturer, are they trusted?" Clank asks well aware of some manufacturers having less than stellar track records. Ratchet has tried some guns from lesser known brands but they have on occasion blown up on them through many faults. "I built it, there isn't any weapon like it where I come from." Sep said and immediately Ratchets jaw dropped. Yes he was a gun nut much to Clanks chagrin but even then, he had never gone ahead and actually built one which was totally something he should do now that he thought about it. But that was besides the point which was that THIS GUY BUILT HIS OWN GUN and it was really high quality. But even then, he had to suppress his excitement as he knew that in the back of his mind, the firepower that this thing could provide wouldn't last long in most battles that they get into on a regular basis. But he still had to give his praise. "That is incredible, But also I really don't want to say this but I kinda have to but...It probably won't last long where we are going. Sorry." Ratchet says but Sep doesn't seem to offended by it. "I wasn't expecting it to in the first place anyways." Ratchet then turns toward Clank with a smug grin. "Well, looks like it is a trip to Grummels then."
"Even if Savali is considered safe."
"There are still a few groups vying for power over there."
"The resistance has set up ships to counteract such a possibility."
"It is always possible for them to slip through. You know how slippery bandits can be sometimes."
"Yes but that also begs the question of why would they attack the archives."
"They could also get word that a couple of Lombaxes are there and try to get some quick cash or worse, send our location to imperial loyalists."
"I hardly see that happening with the way things have been setup since then."
"Yeah but knowing our luck, it is going to happen one way or another."
"And one way or another, you want to use this as an excuse to purchase more weapons. Don't you."
Ratchet would have continued if Clank hadn't so thoroughly hit the nail on the head. That was the problem with having a smart ass robot with you twenty four seven, they had this intuition to know exactly what you were thinking. 
"I honestly wouldn't mind although" Sep chimed in looking at his money pouch."I am not sure if I could afford weapons in your economy." He said weighing the pouch in his hand which was just over a hundred gold pieces. "Honestly, I wouldn't mind footing the bill for you if needed." Ratchet said knowing that they had more than enough bolts in the bank account that they didn't need to worry about it for a good long while. Slyly, Sep slid the coin pouch back into his bag before Ratchet would take back that offer. He then leaned forward on the table and looked directly into Ratchets eyes and said "When are we leaving then."
Clank sighed in disappointment as things were getting out of hand. Now there were two of them.

Turns out a trip to Grummels also warranted a trip to the clothing store. As they were shopping around looking at guns, Clank made the comment that his clothes looked to be on the way out and made the suggestion of getting new ones. Sep really didn't care about it all that much just as long as he had something that would cover him up then he was happy. That was before his two companions started rattling off reasons why it might not survive all that much longer including but not limited to Explosions, gunfire, bladed weapons, fire, electricity and all that other stuff. While Sep was no stranger to this stuff, not by a long shot, he could still recognize that this realm had more to offer than his ever did so it would be a prudent decision. So it became decided that they were going to get him a new outfit after the trip to Grummels. They had a sale on guns going when they got there so it was a no brainer.
Sep had gone conservative with his picks going for a automatic rifle and shotgun combo after Ratchet informed them of what each of them were and getting a few to test out on the range they had on site. Sep's mind on the other hand had immediately went to work trying to dissect exactly how these weapons worked and how he could potentially improve them through his magical abilities. It would most likely render the weapons illegal and void any warranty if he did that however.

The clothes they got for him was a full on outfit consisting of a Grey shirt with red trim, pants and boots. He just went with the most basic thing there was not really caring about personal style. After that was done, they went back to Ratchets home on Veldin so Sep could change and Ratchet could help him setup his arsenal tool. While the tech was different, it was probably the most familiar thing Sep had found in this realm so far as his bag literally had the same function of holding more than it's size would determine. It was no less amazing to him that these people had managed to pull off something that would normally be done with Magic with science. It was truly incredible he thought while he had attacked the device onto his belt along with the rest of his new attire.
It was uncomfortable at first but then again, his clothes for a good chunk of his life were effectively just rags he kept from...no he wasn't going to think about that. He needed to focus on the now and not the past. The shirt was probably the most uncomfortable thing for him at first not used to having his abdomen covered and not exposed because of his years old top. The boots were another thing as he usually just had a form of foot wraps on or he just went barefoot which wasn't really a problem when you were just used to it. But he wasn't familiar with this place and it would be better to be prepared rather than not. The only real adjustment he needed to make was to cut the sleeve off the right arm to accommodate his prosthetic but that changed nothing for him. The clothes themselves fit him snugly to the point he could see the lines of his body through them. The pants were more loose than the shirt but they still clung to his body more-so than his last pair. He still kept his coat which was the only thing that did not change and it proved to be that they were ridiculously hard to find unless you went online to buy one from the net.

That was another thing that he found interesting being this thing called the Holo net which connected billions of people across the galaxy. Ratchet and Clank decided against telling him more about it because they had enough on there hands at the moment and that would just add to the pile so it could wait.
 Sep stood there looking in the mirror letting the events of the day run through his head as he looked at the reflection gazing back at him. It was still so unnerving seeing a face that he knew was his but didn't look like what it should have been. And with the addition of the new outfit, it was almost like he was somebody else entirely. Someone who still carried the scars of the past but at least had a chance to heal and grow stronger from them unlike there counterpart. How the hell he ended up in this situation was beyond him however but he was glad that he ended up with someone who was willing to help just like that. There weren't many people he had come across who worked like that so it was something he still wasn't used to and had to repay in one form or another. It was only fair.

"Looking good." A voice said behind Sep as he whipped his body around to see Ratchet leaning on the door frame to the bathroom he was using to change looking both smug and prideful. Sep wasn't entirely sure what to make of his new look but he good say that it was conventionally good looking. "You think so?" Sep asked as he put a hand on the back of his head careful not to hit his over sized ears. "Yeah, Take it from me, that is the kind of look the ladies like, only thing that could add to it would be a smile." Ratchet said coming in and giving Sep a pat on the back of the shoulder. Looking in the mirror, he could yet again see the height difference as Ratchet had taken up the roll of the bigger man when he was physically shorter. Then something else popped into his mind in regards to what he just said. "If that is the case then why don't I see more ladies around the house." Sep bit back and got to bask in Ratchets face switching from proud and smug to stunned and speechless in a split second. He then looks to his guest with mock hurt on his face as he places a hand over his chest. "I am offended that you would even say such a thing. I have been in plenty of relationships I will have you know." He retorted. "And yet you are still single" Sep said and Ratchet was going to continue but couldn't as his opponent had once again hit the nail on the head. "OK, in that regard, it has been merely a case of conflicting interests and just overall drifting apart but I digress. Look, the point is that you look good." He said Ratchet said pulling Sep into an awkward side hug as they looked into the mirror. "I hardly see how looking good is going to help us in this scenario." Sep stated. "On occasion it is useful, But if you are going to be doing something that involves a lot of action then might as well look good while doing it." Ratchet reiterated. 
Sep looked back to him before stepping to the side to let gravity take care of the side hug he was currently receiving forcing Ratchet to stumble back to regain balance. "So, are we good to go?" He asks knowing that this conversation would inevitably lead to nowhere.
Ratchet regains his balance and looks at him confused for a second before his brain finally kicks in and he remembers the whole point of going out and buying guns. It was for potential self defense while in the other dimension. "Oh yeah, just got to get the Dimensionator set up and then we are good, I'll meet you in the garage." Ratchet said before darting out of the bathroom and to his stated destination.

Sep remained in the bathroom for a few more moments just taking in what has transpired over what could be no more than a day at least and he still can't quite believe it any more than he could the night before. He just had to take it all in stride he mentally settled on before grabbing his sword and strapping it to his back. Apparently Melee armaments are really good against robots if you swung hard enough so there was no point in not bringing one. After that, he grabbed his bag and slung it over his shoulder and made his way out to the garage where Ratchet said he would be.

Walking into the garage, Septimus could see that it had been mostly cleared out and rearranged to be a makeshift staging area but he couldn't see anything that could conceivably make a portal of some sort outside of the obvious doorway to the outside. Did he have a portal generator built into the supporting structure he wondered as he looked at them but saw nothing to indicate as such and he briefly wondered if he just hid them really well. But a quick look around told him that Ratchet wouldn't be too concerned about such a thing, Clank might but then again, outside of magic he could only imagine the energy requirements for such a task. "Alright, ready to go?" Ratchet asked as he pulled out a device with a series of triangular panels mounted in a semisphere configuration at the front of what appeared to be the grip of a gun with a crank on the side. Sep tilted his head in curiosity while Ratchet inserted a piece of glowing purple crystal into the device as it began to glow with that same purple aura. "Wait, are you telling me that is the Dimensionator?" Sep asked failing to understand how something that powerful could be in that snmall of a package. "Indeed, it is wuite the marvel of Lombax engineering." Clank said as he moved to a different spot to better observe what would be happening. Ratchet then began to type a series of inputs on the back of the device before cranking it and aiming into the doorway. He then looked over to where Sep was standing and looked concerned. "Best to move over here, We do not want to know the side effects of overexposire to rifts." He said and Sep obliged as the sentiment was mutual. 

He took a place beside Ratchet glancing at the screen on the back of the Dimensionator displaying a mostly blue and grey planet with a set of coordinates and some form of legend off to the side displaying some other information. Ratchet then lifted the device and aimed it at the door before promptly pulling the trigger. A sound like reverberated shattered glass sounded as the panels on the front of the device opened up and a purple bolt shot out ripping a portal through space with an alien landscape appearing on the other side. The device remained active as Ratchet shifted it to his other hand letting his main one go closer to the ground to hoist Clank onto his back in one fluid motion. They began walking to the portal but stop short as Clank elbows Ratchet in the side. Ratchet looks back and sees Sep staring in awe at the portal they just created utterly enamoured with it. The way it appeared through out any ideas of what portals should look like in his minds eye yet it made perfect sense at the same time. He hoped it wouldln't be a case of interdimensional cataclysm as that was the iamge shattered glass brought to mind. "You comin?" Ratchet called out just beyond the threshold of the different realms snapping Sep out of his mind doing its thing and over thinking everything. He then ran to Ratchet and out through the portal and stopped on the other side. Immediately, he could feel the difference.

The overall temperature was more moderate than Veldin by a long shot. This was evident in the orange fauna growing over top rocky outcroppings as far as the eye could see. It was all so mesmerizing until he looked up and saw a massive planet with glorious rings wrapped around it just hovering in the sky. Just how many more surprises could this adventure throw at him he thought as he then felt a pressure difference behind him. Looking back, the portal was gone with Ratchet storing the Dimensionator inside of his arsenal tool and strolling forward like it were nothing to him. Sep wouldn't be surprised if he has made this journey so many times that it has lost its luster to him. But it didn't matter to Sep as he was still in awe of a world that everyone where he came from could only dream of, let alone see with there very own eyes as he is doing now. "Welp, Gary should be up ahead so lets get a move on." Ratchet proclaimed as he started moving forward snapping Sep back to reality again-Was he always this spacey? 

It was a short walk from there landing site to monktown as it was supposedly called. A small town of Snivelakians-whatever those were-that embraced pacifism and had been maintaining the Lombax ruins ever since they left. They also housed another robot named Kit who could help them find whatever it was they were looking for that could get Sep back to his home dimension. The three companions walked in comfortable silence or two of them walked while one hung onto ones back with there arms and legs tucked in. Sep was too busy looking around at the truly alien flora and fauna sprouting out of every nook and cranny mentally noting it for later. It was strange for him to be seeing any amount of vegetation in large quantities having never leaving the Desert until relatively recently. All of this was just so strange and overwhelming to him that he really couldn't exactly process all of it and had a whole slew of questions for everyone and everything but no wwas not the time. Maybe he could find some information in the archives themselves as that is there purpose afterall and he doubted Lombaxes weren't rigorous note takers...except for Ratchet that is but exceptions always exist. He then looked back to see Clank staring at him with those large green eyes of his and the neutral look on his face as it caught him off guard. Sep jolted his head in another direction not liking the feeling of being probed by those eyes as the robot was almost certainly taking note of his every action for scientific reasons. He didn't want to nessecarily come off as weak so he did his best to just avoid eye contact with him as much as he possibly could. This didn't go unnoticed by them however as they tilted there head in concern at him but couldn't get a word in as Ratchet announced that they were here.

The ones Sep supposed were the Snivelakians were all taller than the Lombaxes by a good head or two with a top heavy build and reptilian features. He guessed that the most direct analogue to his own realm would have been either Dragonborns or Kobolds minus the horns and wings respectively. They definitely fit the pacifism vibe that Ratchet and Clank had described with the laid back and almost meditative state they were all in. "Keep an eye out for Gary Pal." Ratchet said over his shoulder to Clank who nodded and began looking around. Sep followed close behind those two looking for a Snivelakian that seemed out of the ordinary. Most of the denizens of this town looked very similar so it would only be natural for a person of high importance to stand out from the rest. 

The search itself didn't take long as they heard from the croud, "Ahh Brother Ratchet and Clank, how very nice of you two to drop by." They heard come from around the corner and turning around, they saw a Snivelakian with a large book and fancy head dress come into view walking up to them. "Hey Gary, how is it going." Ratchet replied in kind in that friendly demeanour that Sep wasn't sure if it was genuine or an act. If it was the latter then it was a really good one. "I must say things are going quite well here on Savali especially after you and your friends services to the galaxy." He said as he leaned back and used his tail like a seat while flipping through pages in his book. "Granted it is a bit more chaotic than it was but I would say we are well past the-" The Snivelakian stopped himself as he looked over and noticed another Lombax standing just behind them that wasn't Rivet. His eyes widened as he snapped his gaze to the newcomer utterly astounded. "I see you have found a friend and another Lombax at that. Have you finally managed to find the Lombax dimension brother Ratchet?" Gary asked to which Ratchet got a bit uneasy but Clank was there to pick up the slack. "Surprisingly no, he is not even a Lombax to begin with and we are simply trying to get to the archives to potentially find out where he came from." He said already having a response prepared before perking his head up at something. "Shouldn't you have known that being a prophet?" He asked. Ratchet and Sep were not going to comment on that but now that Clank had mentioned that little tidbit. "Yeah, I distinctly remember you knowing our names before we ever came Planetside." Ratchet chimed in crossing his arms over his chest.
"Ahh, I had happened to be taking a day off from my duties yesterday so I wasn't looking into the future. It was quite relaxing, I must say." Gary provided by way of an explanation. Ratchet could sympaphize with needing a day off every now and then even when he consistently prefers to keep his hands doing something all the time. "But I digress, who might you be my good fellow?" Gary gestured with his free hand to the character in question. Sep went stiff at being put on the spot like that quickly glancing over to the other two for confirmation. He recieved nods from both of them in nearly perfect sync which looked just the tiniest bit creepy to Sep being tempered mostly by how tight knit those two were. He glanced back at the alien looking at him with a look that somehow translated as welcoming despite the reptilian features. Sep took in a quick breath before looking at him. "Sep." Was all he said.

It wasn't much but then again, Sep knew better than to just give someone your full name upon first meeting them. This seemed to satidfy the alien well enough as he retracted his hand before tilting his head up and closing his eyes going into a meditation pose of sorts. Sep leaned over to the other two to ask if they should be worried. "Just let him do his thing." Ratchet said sensing his unease. Ratchet's words didn't do anything to quell Sep's fears at all as the meditation lasted a bit longer before Gary's eyes shot open agian. "Oh my, I don't think I have seen something that dark since the day Kit arrived here." Gary said clutching his head in his claws. Seps eyes shot open as he tensed up in immediate fear. He wasn't any stranger to people being able to sense ones emotions on the spot like that as any magical practitioner could do it...and an aggresively kind kenku. He clenched his fist and hoped that Gary didn't run his mouth. Gary looked back up and saw the clenched mettalic fist and the tense posture of his guest and took a few deep breaths before recomposing himself. "Please do not fear friend, I understand completely you have things you wish to keep buried, I will not speak of them as they are not my story to tell but yours." He said trying to be as soothing as posssible. Sep still kept his fist clenched waiting for the psyche moment where they spill the beans but that look in Gary's eyes told him something different. He was being truthful in that he wouldn't bring up any memories that should not have been. That was the last thing that Sep needed in this journey, something or someone to connect to. Ratchet and Clank looked at the atmosphere between the two seeing how it could have been cut with a knife so easily and stepped in. Ratchet coughed into his fist getting the attention of both of them.

"OK, I am sure that we all have our stories to tell but we are kinda in a rush so...Gary. Anychance that Kit is around to help us with navigating the archives?" Ratchet said breaking the tension knowing that led to no where himself. Gary glanced over to the actual pure Lombax mentally noting to ask this Sep for a emotional talk later as his vibes were saying that he needed it above most others. "Not at the moment but she along with Rivet are expected to arrive here on Savali within the hour." Gary said optimistically. "Well, That is some good news." Ratchet said. "Ineed, I think it would be prudent if we sent a transmission to them so they know we are here and to get to the archives so we are not waiting." Clank suggested. Ratchet agreed along with Sep. Sep did so more hastily than Ratchet just wanting to be somewhere where someone wasn't going to try and observe what was going on with him. So with that the three of them siad there good byes to Gary and began there trek to the archives proper.

Sep briefly looked back at the receding monk town while Clank made the call to Kit and was honestly glad he was out of there and away from Gary's presence. "You good?" Ratchet asked from beside him snapping his gaze back to looking forward. He also caught the look Ratchet was giving him which was one of concern. Not too surprising since he was technically his guardian while he was here. Sep just stuffed his hands into his coats pockets and looked at the ground and kept walking in silence. "It is alright to be vulnerable Septimus, It is alright to talk to someone if something is bugging you." Clank said from Ratchets back. Sep looked back at them for a brief moment before setting his eyes straight wanting enything other than this to be the subject of converstaion. He had his reasons for not wanting to open up and he was going to stick to them. "I don't want to talk about it." Sep said with a bit more bite than intended with the two of them visibly recoiling from it. They were about to retort but before they could, They heard a loud Sonic Boom sound from the sky from above. Looking up, the trio saw a lone white and orange starship breach the atmosphere before a few more followed suit. Following that, a loud speaker began to scream into the surrounding landscape. "By his loyal servants decree, Apprehend the space rats in honour of OUR GLORIOUS EMPEROR." A robotic voice shrieked through the air as troops began to strike the ground like meteors and geared up for battle. 

Ratchet saw this and grew a cheeky smirk knowing what this meant. He turned to Sep getting his attention before he pulled out one of his blasters. "What do you say we take your new toys and take them for...a field test." Ratchet said as he sported his signature cocky grin. Sep glanced from him to the enemies rapidly approaching repeatedly a few times before he hit a button on his arsenal tool letting the weight of his new automatic rifle settle into his hands. He primed it like Ratchet told him to and the gun whirred to life with lights glowing and vents opening before he brought it up to his shoulder just like Ratchet showed him. "Lets do this." Sep said as he stared at the mechanical platoon about to get the ass kicking of a lifetime.

Chapter Text

Ratchet and Septimus hit the ground running towards the small area that the platoon decided to land. They all sported a signature white and orange color scheme with orange domes and tentacle tripod legs. Septimus hung back and let Ratchet go ahead of him knowing that he knew how to deal with these kind of enemies better than he did. Ratchet briefly caught his attention as the drop ships flew up out of range of there weapons. "You take the ones of the right and I'll take the left!." Ratchet said with Sep nodding in response. Sure he wasn't the best when it came to group dynamics but he could at least clear an area. Ratchet veered off toward the left and drew one of his many guns and started blasting at near point blank ranges. Sep would have questioned that kind of mentality if it weren't for the fact that he was in the same position. He slowed down and stayed out of melee range and brought his weapon up aiming down the sights. 
"Another Lombax!!." A trooper in front yelled out upon seeing Sep,"We will end him and all others in the name of OUR GLORIOUS EMPEROR." Sep pulled the trigger. He made sure to keep a tight hold of the gun as he let the plasma bolts exit the barrel. The first few shots went through that specific troopers dome with ease as a liquid began seeping out before it exploded upon coming into contact with the plasma. The resulting explosion wasn't as big as he would have liked but it made thinning the heard a touch easier. Sep made sure not to hold down the trigger already feeling the power of the recoil which while wasn't as bad as his own personal gun, there were so many shots being fired that they added up. Sep began to run around the small horde making sure to fire potshots and not holding down the trigger so he could keep his shots on target. He was also dodging, ducking and weaving through a hail of gun fire doing his best not to be burned alive. He sprinted and took cover behind one of the rocks cropping out on these plains to briefly avoid the gunfire. He could already tell that these bolts were leagues worse than arrows to the chest and he would likely not live. He watched the gunfire for a split second as it skirted the side of his cover and noticed something odd. It was all focused on the one plane and his cover was taller than the highest plasma bolt. 

Sep quickly adjusted his grip on the weapon instead grabbing the barrel on top to pin it down to the top of the rock as he peaked over. He used the rock as a pivot point as he held down the trigger and sprayed as much ammo into the coming horde as he could which was getting closer and closer with each second. The first row quickly collapsed but the rest just walked over there fallen comrades more focused on enacting the orders of an Emperor long since perished unable to move on from that twisted nightmare. Sep kept firing but felt the heat of the barrel burning through his glove and had to stop firing before it could potentially explode. He dropped back behind the rock and looked at the rifle and saw that the barrel was burning hot. It would be very unwise to continue to use it at this stage so Sep stashed it away in the arsenal tool and gripped the sword on his back. He didn't know how long he would be able to hold out but he wanted to keep the shotgun ready to go in case he needed it. 
With a deep breath, Sep gripped the hilt and drew his blade jumping up over the rock and running directly into the small horde of robots swinging. Normally he would have complained about being short having always been the tall kid but here it became an advantage. The main body of the troopers was elevated above his head on three spindly tentacle like legs which made them ripe for the taking. With all of his strength, Sep swinged his blade through the first set of legs in his way feeling how easily they crumbled. He expected them to be more sturdy being made out of metal and all but then again, Emperors liked to cut corners wherever possible and it was no different here. 

The sword swipes became more intense as Sep cut down damn near everything that got into his path. It was actually easy in a way that Sep was not expecting but that all changed when he saw a group of troopers part and let another modified one of them come through. This one had metallic spheres for hands almost like giant mechanical boxing gloves. Sep didn't have time to think so he raised his blade up as the metal spheres slammed into the blade and it took all of his strength to keep himself upright. Of course there were more specialized troops on the battle field. Sep adjusted his footing so he wouldn't crumble underneath the weight of the one trying to force him to kneel. "Give up Squishie, you will make a fine sacrifice to our glorious emperor." Sep snarled at that as he used his own mechanical arms superior strength to twist his blade until the tip of it was pointed directly at the troopers main center of mass where the core most likely was. "I bow to NO one." Sep ground out and clicked a button on the hilt of his blade. The lower half extended along with the cross guard and the main blade. Through simple compressed air, the tip extended to Great Sword length and pierced the trooper straight through the mechanical chest in a small shower of sparks. All the strength it was using to pin Sep down was immediately gone as he swung the blade around throwing the robotic corpse into another trooper sending it to the ground. Sep snarled at all the other troopers now looking at him with the robotic approximation of dread in those weird insect like eyes of theirs. It wasn't the same face but it would have to do. Channeling energy into his hand, Sep made his blade electric through a shocking grasp and began to cut through the swathes of troops yet again. The increased leverage on his blade made cutting them down even easier and he could eliminate more of them in a single blow.

But all of this slicing and dicing did have an impact on Sep himself as he couldn't keep it up indefinitely. Through each slash, he glanced over to see how Ratchet was doing and to say it was chaotic was an understatement. He was flipping, dashing, running and sliding around all over the place constantly switching between guns as needed in a furious dance of death. 
Sep snapped back to reality and his current predicament as he had just sliced off an arm that was now leaking oil. Seeing this, an idea popped into his head and he ran back to get his bearings for a short while. Ratchet wasn't the only one with tricks up his sleeve however. Swinging the sword down into the ground for a quick second, Sep quick drew his custom pistol and channeled his magic through it. The symbol on the end of the barrel glowed a bright crimson as he took aim at the socket he had exposed just moments before. With a bright muzzle flash, Three straight Scorching ray's fired out in a fan formation cutting through the horde like butter. The central ray struck the trooper with the arm missing and it ignited the oil in a furious display of destruction. The entire trooper burst into flames from the inside and exploded sending white and orange shrapnel in every direction annihilating the few that were the closest to them. There were still stragglers of course, but Sep didn't let that stop him, mentally, he switched which spell he wanted to use and soon, his gun-The Vagabond-was firing out small fire bolts at the stragglers. 
He also took a page out of Ratchet's book and began to run and gun cutting down a few troopers immediately in front of him before quickly switching back over to the Vagabond. He didn't bother using physical bullets as they were most likely a liability if Ratchets analysis was anything to go off of. He picked off the last few stragglers with clean shots through there domes before a larger opponent showed up in front of him. It easily towered over the rest of the other troopers sporting massive quad barrel guns for arms and increased Armour especially over the shoulders. It aimed both of its fists at Sep letting them rev up before firing massive bolts right at him. Sep instinctively jumped to the side to avoid getting hit with them and found that he jumped way higher than he initially thought he would have. The small moment of jumping higher than he normally could was small but it was enough for him to briefly lose concentration as he failed to find his footing and hit the ground hard rolling across it to a stop. Looking up, the trooper was gearing up to fire another volley of shots and while Sep could think of a reason for his increased dexterity, he had to put it on hold as his life was more important than that simple question. Glancing up, he made a quick idea in his head about how to go about destroying this foe and it once sitting in his arsenal. He quickly hit the button on his swords hilt collapsing back in on itself before stashing it on his back before sprinting straight toward the trooper. He just as quickly hit the button on the arsenal tool bringing up a display of what weapons he had and he chose the shotgun. He let the weight sink into his arms before quickly adjusting his grip and looking right down the barrels of those glowing fists. 

He glanced to the things undercarriage and saw a potential opening that would be devastating if executed properly. A small spark emitted a puff of flames in the quad barrels before a new volley fired directly at Sep who leaped forward into a roll. This time, instead of crumbling into a tangle of limbs, Sep was able to account for the increased distance and land mostly exactly where he wanted to and rolled to a stop underneath the trooper where he pointed the shotgun. He braced it up against his shoulder before firing right up into what would have been the troopers nether regions and his hunch paid off. The trooper screamed in agony calling out to an emperor to save him which would never come. Sep would make sure of it. He got out from under the trooper before he could live up to the insult of squishy before firing a few more rounds directly into the things orange dome silencing it. What was left of the core coughed out a puff of smoke a few seconds later.
Sep took his chance to take a deep breath as he felt his heart race not used to fighting so many opponents all at once like Ratchet most likely was. Glancing over to the Lombax in question, Sep watched how Ratchet continued jumping in and around each shot with practiced ease before getting his own last few swings on his opponent with his wrench. While it was certainly crude, the results did not lie as the troopers chest caved in from the blow. The trooper crumpled like tissue paper to the side as Ratchet took a few deep breaths of his own before glancing over to Sep. "You good?" He called over as he began to walk over to the not a lombax.

Sep just nodded his head holstering his weapon in his arsenal tool as he took began walking to Ratchet. Before they could stop and chat, they saw one last drop ship come down through the clouds firing lasers down at the two of them. Ratchet and Sep jumped out of the way as they focused on avoiding the laser fire rather than stopping to chat. The laser fire stopped as they felt a massive shock through the earth and glance up to see what the drop ship deployed. It was a massive trooper with massive metallic gauntlets and a large round chest supported on what looked to be thrown together legs that could barely hold its own weight. By the time both of the Lombaxes got a hold of themselves, the juggernaut before them spoke. "The emperors will shall be enacted no matter the cost and it mandates that you shall die YOU MISERABLE SQUISHIES!!." It yelled before raising its arms and two massive cannons emerged from underneath the armor plating. "Let him exhaust his arms before attacking." Ratchet called out to Sep who understood but also saw the vulnerability. The legs definitely were not designed with this things weight in mind and it showed as it took shaky steps towards them while the arm cannons whirred up. Sep took Ratchets advice and ran to the side opposite Ratchet. The juggernaut glanced between them having to divide its firepower between the two of them or focus on one. It chose the former. 

Both cannons whirred to life and began rapid firing at the both of them leaving large impact craters in the Savali soil where it fired. The shots also seemed to only account for the enemies position and could not lead its shots that well. The sprint the two got into exploited this as all the shots were just a few meters behind each of them respectively. Soon though, the cannons whirred down before they overheated and exploded which gave the two Lombaxes an opportunity. Ratchet called out to fire and Sep willingly obliged knowing when to take advantage of down time when in a fight. He pulled out his shotgun and sprinted directly to the shaky legs and pumped a few rounds into them shredding armor plating with each shot. This also proved that the legs themselves were a lot stronger than they looked as they took the hit really well. "There you are." The juggernaut said from above glancing downwards to find Sep looking up at it. The juggernaut raised its foot where Sep was standing and made the move to stomp him into the ground. Sep jumped onto the other leg to avoid getting squashed as the shock wave rattled the leg he was now hugging to avoid the shock wave. The Juggernaut pounded his legs into the ground in order to shake Sep off but he held on even with his grip slipping each time. A series of explosions blasted overhead forcing the juggernaut to cover its head with its arm. "Come one, you want a challenge. Well I am right here you overgrown tin can." Ratchet called out with a rocket launcher perched on his shoulder with another shot all ready to fire. The juggernaut took the challenge and insult to heart as he slammed his foot down into the ground in order to properly aim at Ratchet with all four barrels. 
What was he doing Sep thought, he has the perfect opportunity to get out of here alive yet he was still standing there ready to fight Sep thought. Or was there maybe some form of overarching plan that Ratchet had ready to go. He didn't get to continue his line of thinking as he felt a bolt land on his head from above. Looking up, Sep could see the shoddy workmanship holding the legs together and how easily it could have been broken and he was where he could maximize that opportunity. 

Banishing any thoughts of someone actually caring about him, Sep pulled his mechanical arm back and charged it up with magical energy forming around his fingertips and blue electric sparks. He slammed his fist into the joint holding the juggernaut up and watched as the parts exploded out also throwing him off as well. The juggernaut fell onto the side the leg was previously holding up interrupting the volley of gun fire it had been throwing at Ratchet who was now running over to him. "You alright?" He asked extending a hand toward him. Sep looked up at Ratchet and found the answer to his earlier confusion. The way Ratchet looked down at him was a caring look of someone who genuinely did not want to hurt him in any way. Why had he been so blind to see it he thought as he grasped his hand with his own and Ratchet pulled him up. "Alright, nothing broken at least." Sep answered his question. "Alright, well with that out of the way, how about we just-"
"YOU INFURIATING HAIRBALLS!" The juggernaut bellowed out with sparks flying from its waist as it raised its guns up toward them. Ratchet pulled up his rocket launcher to shoot but it only clicked when he pulled the trigger. The grin he was wearing evaporated immediately as he looked at the gun in question before lowering it dejectedly. "Of course that happens right when I need it." He said as he swapped to the Wrench he had been carrying and getting into a more appropriate fighting stance. Sep did the same raising his shotgun ready to take on this last foe in a field full of the corpses of its allies.

A beeping came from something on Ratchet's person which he was quick to dismiss by hitting a button on the side of the device. "Now is not the time." He said as the cannons whirred to life and the two of them were now ready for there last stand. That would be if they didn't hear another loud sonic boom go off right above them. Looking up, they saw what looked to be a modified Star ship matching Imperial design but with a new paint job and numerous modifications. It rocketed through the sky toward them with the front opening up and a single lone figure leaping out skydiving right towards the Juggernaut. The juggernaut looked up and its eyes went wide with fear as he saw the figure wielding an Omnihammer with murderous glee in there eyes. 

"NOW EAT THIS SUCKER!" The figure yelled as the hammer made contact with the dome on top of the Juggernauts head crushing it like a tin can. The impact emitted a humungous shock wave larger than any other the battlefield had seen today which those on the ground felt push them back. the juggernaut crumpled under the force of the blow falling to the ground limp as the figure performed a three point landing in front of it as a dust cloud formed around them. Sep and Ratchet shielded there eyes from the dust letting it settle before dropping there respective arms. The figure shrouded in shadow walked towards the two with a confident swagger with the hammer resting on there shoulder. When the dust settled, the figure was revealed to be a female Lombax with with white fur and faint purple markings. She pulled her goggles up above her cerulean blue eyes before resting her hand on her hip just staring at the two of them. "How's it going Hotshot?" She asked. Sep supposed that was a nickname for Ratchet as he turned his head to look at him. Ratchet was absolutely stunned at seeing them and...was that a blush that Sep was seeing from the guy. 

Ratchet just stands there utterly slack jawed at seeing the display of strength and power and couldn't help but look upon Rivet the same way one would a goddess. "Ratchet, please try to not embarrass yourself this time." Clank said from his back jolting Ratchet out of his stupor. Sep almost forgot that he was there and figure that Clank was probably silent throughout all combat except when necessary which made sense. 
Rivet's gaze slowly drifted from Ratchet to the one he was accompanied by who was...another Lombax? Her cocky grin slipped right off her face and her brows furrowed in confusion as she set her hammer on the ground and leaned over her shoulder. "Kit, Am I going crazy or is that another Lombax standing there in front of us?" She asked. Sep couldn't see them before but now with Rivet's posture shifting, he could clearly see a small blue eyed yellow robot similar in size to Clank on Rivets back in a similar manner. Was that a thing between all Lombaxes? The robot-Kit-looked over Rivets shoulder and there eyes went wide with surprise as she turned back to the one carrying her. "I can confirm that your eyes are functioning properly and there is indeed another Lombax standing right in front of us." They said with Rivets face contorting from one of confusion to surprise and awe. She looked him up and down almost not believing it but how could she deny it when the guy was standing right there. She couldn't help but recall the first time she met Ratchet and Clank and how she denied there claims of who they were. It wasn't until she saw actual footage that she believed them. Thankfully, this time she was able to go right past that initial un-trusting step and go straight to believing. 

Both Sep and Rivet stood in awkward silence with one in pure awe while the other was rather uncomfortable at just how long they were staring. He hoped that they didn't try anything but if they did then he had a gun at the ready just in case. Ratchet saw this and decided to be the mediator before shit hit the fan. Clank had popped off of his back.
"Right, Right, Introductions." Ratchet began walking so he was side by side with Rivet. "Septimus, this is Rivet. Rivet, This is Septimus and uhh...spoiler alert but he isn't entirely a Lombax." He said breaking Rivet out of her shock and awe and into confusion again as she turned toward Ratchet. "What do you mean he is not technically a Lombax?" She leaned into Ratchets ear whilst Kit popped off her back to stand next to Clank. Ratchet pulled his finger up in order to say something but nothing came out of his mouth as he tried to think of the best way to phrase what was going on.

"Was originally a Tiefling who then got thrown into another realm entirely before touching a crystal and falling into this realm...or I guess Ratchets realm. somehow got turned into a lombax and I am now trying to find a way back." Sep said completely relieving Ratchet of the mental task about explaining the situation. His ears twitch just slightly as he tries to think of a way to keep the explanation going but comes up empty as he just gestures to Sep. "Yep, that about sums it up...give or take a few minor details but I digress." He says letting his arms drop to the side. Rivet takes a second look at the inter dimensional traveler before her and can definitely see things that weren't exactly Lombax like now that she was looking. His eyes were solid black which was certainly not normal. His legs were misshapen if the way they bent backwards was anything to go off of and he was tall, taller than the both of them. That was definitely not Lombax like at all, they were all short and nothing could tell her otherwise. Nope, no sir-e, Lombaxes were naturally short and she still had something to hold onto to tell her that she was tall for her species. Her and Ratchet both. She felt a tug at her side and looked down at kit gesturing forward with an open palm. A silent gesture asking for her to introduce herself. "Oh right, right of course." She stepped toward him and extended her yellow arm for a handshake. "As Ratchet said, My names Rivet." She said with as much awkwardness as there was physically possible. Guess she still wasn't used to meeting a member of her own species quite yet.

Sep looked at the arm and then back up to her face before grasping the yellow prosthetic with his own. "Septimus, but just Sep is fine." He said giving a firm shake. Rivet managed to take it in stride before noticing his Right arm being a prosthetic like hers although much less sleek and far more crude but no less awesome. She couldn't help but clutch her own knowing full well the pain something like that can do to a person. She also couldn't help but look at it and try to figure out how it worked with the back of her mind wanting to dissect it and compare it to her own and potentially improve it or vice versa. Sep caught on to what she was staring at and pulled his arm back hiding it from view. "Oh sorry. It's just...I...It looks so different...and I...ugh, I just have so many questions that I want to ask." Rivet says slouching forward and pressing her index fingers together being the utter opposite of that person who destroyed a metallic death machine with a single blow and was all smug about it.

"I am sure that I will get around to answering all of your questions but I think it would be prudent if we actually got into the archives." Sep said in an attempt to relieve the situation of it's awkwardness. 
"Oh, what would you be hoping to find amongst the archives?" Kit piped up being its caretaker ever since she came to Savali. "Uh, we are looking for this crystal that can jump between realities that isn't phase quartz." Ratchet answered as the group of five began to walk to the archives and away from the battlefield that they just partook in. The walk itself wasn't silent as Kit began asking various questions about what it was and determining just what section of the Archives they should start looking in would be. Sep answered to the best of his ability on what it looked like and it's properties all the while he was catching Rivet glancing at his prosthetic. He couldn't blame them for it as he was equally curious about how hers worked but he knew that could wait until after they had found what they were looking for.

The inter dimensional archives entryway was really interesting to Sep as it required the use of a bolt crank method which is where Ratchets wrench came in handy. Then it involved a stairway that seemingly led to no where but was in reality a platform for a portal to form into the archives proper. What was it with this realm and its ability to consistently blindside him with marvels beyond his time on a whim like that. Every time, it sent his eyes wide with surprise and even more so this time with the fact they use inter dimensional gateways as a door of all things. Technically that was what it was but it was never this blatant in his experience.
The space inside was dazzling with its almost star scape aesthetic. The hallways were long with numerous records loaded onto shelves carved directly into the wall and it just seemed to stretch on forever. He wasn't sure if this place worked like a bag of holding where the inside was bigger than the container would suggest or if it was a in another dimension that lined up with this location geographically. Just another thing on the list of questions he has regarding this dimension. Kit walks ahead of the group knowing the place better than any of them and begins walking in a direction that hopefully led to the piece of knowledge they seek. 
As they are walking down the corridor, Rivet falls back into step with Sep making glances at his arm that she hopes he doesn't notice.

"Go ahead, ask your questions." Sep said being fully aware of what she was staring at. He wasn't surprised in the slightest that someone would have questions about it given all the stares that he has received throughout the years. Rivet breathes a sigh of relief hoping not to come off as creepy even though many others have given her the same look that she just gave Sep over time. Wait, was this how they felt any time they wanted to know more about her prosthetic. Certainly takes one to know one apparently. 
"OK, I just have maybe a...few million questions regarding your prosthetic so bare with me." Rivet said to which Sep waves his hand in front of himself saying in a way that the stage was hers. 
"OK, here we go," She breathes in. "What material is it made from?, How long did it take to develop?, Is it directly connected to your nervous system or does it work on impulse?, What's the total grip strength?, Did you build it yourself and if not, who did?, Does it have any other features other than being an arm?, What software do you use to run it?" Rivet breathed in for another round of questions. "Before you go on another rant, maybe you should let the guy answer those questions first." Ratchet piped in over hearing the barrage of questions. Rivet sheepishly looked between him and Sep and gestured to Sep abashedly as she had just temporarily lost herself for a few moments.

"Well, first off. Just regular shop steel with bits of brass in there for more delicate pieces. Took about five months from start to finish and I had some help. Connected directly to my nervous system, haven't had a chance to test grip strength, No other features have been implemented yet and What the fuck is a 'software'?" Sep answered tilting his head confusedly at the last part. Rivets eyes went wide with confusion also but not for the same reason as Sep. Just where the hell did he come from that he didn't know what software was, everyone and there mother knew what that was so to find someone who didn't was truly baffling. "Before you ask, I come from a world that hasn't invented a...computer I think it was called." He looked towards Ratchet who was listening in on the conversation already having his fill the previous day and night. "Yep, that is exactly what it is called." He replied as they turned a corner in the endless hallway. Rivet was now astounded at what she was seeing as that implied that there wasn't a single microchip or circuit board in the prosthetic which hers was full of. She was about to ask more questions but kit beat her to it.
"I believe this should be the section holding any and all inter dimensional artifacts." She proclaimed gesturing at multiple walls lined with books and data pads where hopefully one of them had what they were looking for. "We can exchange notes later." Sep said and Rivet nodded her head in agreement. If she could get how he made his arm without microchips then it would be a great implementation to her own especially in the realm of E,M,P devices. 

Looking at the walls of records, They all agreed to just grab a book and start flipping through until they find something matching Septimus' description. Sep stayed with Clank relying on him for translation which was something that he would need to get around to building. A universal translator. It wasn't that he minded Clanks help but he didn't want to be a burden onto him or just become over reliant in the first place. This specific area had opened up and resemble more of a library with multiple rows of shelves packed together but could easily be moved between. The next few minutes were comprised of everybody shouting over the tops of the shelves about there various finds slowly piecing together there own stacks of books that could prove useful. Sep was on what was probably the third row he himself had gone through and was looking through the middle section of the shelf pulling out books one by one before he found something. The cover resembled that of what he was familiar with. Dark brown leather inlaid with gold filigree around the borders. Opening it up showed that it had illustrations but was written in The usual Lombax script except for a few excerpts which he could...read? There looked to be hand written notes written in a language that consisted of constellation like glyphs and Sep could read it as it was Celestial. They talked about exploring different planes of existence and the various properties they had but what caught his attention was the illustration on the page. One of the very same crystal he had caught. "Have you found something?" Clank asked from below. Sep looked down and nodded before showing the page to Clank. He read through the page at a speed that would far surpass that of organics and his eyes went wide. 
Kit came out from around the corner and looked at what they were doing and chimed in. "Have you found something substantial?" She asked. "Yes, I believe we have. Do these archives have tables for studying by chance?" Kit nodded and gestured for them to follow her. Clank called over to the other two that they found something. Emerging from the rows was Ratchet and Rivet carrying there own stacks of books but they followed diligently to the table that Kit had procured for them as if there was anyone else to take it from them.

Ratchet and Rivet set there stacks on either end of the table while Sep placed his in the middle with the book he had found layed out in the middle. They all crowded around each side of the table to look at what Sep had found. The two robots looked at the text ready to translate should Sep ask for it but he eventually gets to the page he had found earlier and stops letting his hands rest atop the page. The illustration matches exactly what he saw before he fell into Ratchets realm. A floating crystal with arcane energy swirling inside of it tempting somebody to place there hands upon it to go someplace else. Seeing that he was not going to speak, Clank spoke up on his behalf.
"According to the text, this is apparently a 'Shatter Gate Prism' and is said to transport a person to another realm entirely." He looked towards Sep and his look of recognition almost confirmed that this was what the group was looking for. Rivet leaned over and looked at a line of text off to the side that looked to be a pair of coordinates. She scrutinized them for a few moments wondering why they looked familiar before glancing over to Kit. "Those coordinates look familiar?" She asked. Kit looked at where Rivet was pointing and analyzed the coordinates internally tracking there location in the blink of an eye. Those coordinates would line up with the southern sector of the Skoreia galaxy. Rivets face went wide as her brain clicked into why those coordinates felt familiar and she glanced up at the boys who were wondering what she was thinking.

"Have you been there before?" Ratchet asked breaking the silence that hung in the air for a few fleeting moments. Rivet snapped her head toward him. "NO I have not but it was going to be on my to do list for today and I was even going to ask you to join me." She replied.
"Wait, why were you going there in the first place?"
"Because, I overheard on loyalist comms that they were going to be going there but got caught up in two lombaxes being sighted. I tried calling you but you hung up on me before I crushed that juggernaut." Rivet said leaning on the table toward him. Ratchet pulled back for a moment confused for a bit before pulling out his communicator where sure enough, the last person to call him was standing on the other side of the room he was currently standing in. His face heated up not ever wanting to hang up on her but that moment called for it to be done. "We were in the heat of battle, can't exactly hold a conversation and fight at the same time." Sep said as he was writing down the coordinates in his own journal that had pulled from his bag while they were talking. Ratchet looked to Rivet for confirmation and she had a cheeky smirk on her face. "Don't worry about hanging up on me, I completely understand I timed it poorly." She said chuckling at the look on his face. He was gonna make a comment but though better about it turning back to the book they were discusiing. "OK, so poorly timed calls aside, where abouts is the Skoreia galaxy exactly?" He asked. Kit piped up. "The Skoreia galaxy is located two eighty three degrees longitude and fifty six degrees latitude in relation to the galactic plane and five million lightyears or about a weeks worth of travel by hyperspace." 

Sep turned to stare at her in disbeleif at the numbers stated. The fact that these guys could cover that much distance in such a short amount of time relatively speaking was nothing short of mind breaking. According to the physics that he learned, nothing could go faster than light. Going off of the figure of five million lightyears, it would take that number of years to reach the destination while traveling at light speed and these guys had the technology to do so in a week. He felt like his head was going to explode at some point at the sheer jump in technology from his realm to this one. 
"Welp, if that is the case then we are going to need a ship cause I doubt Aphelion could hold five people for that long." Ratchet said breaking Sep from his existential meltdown. "I will handle that part, I'm sure I can pull somestrings at get a ship that can do the job just fine." Rivet piped up going through her contacts looking for one of the numerous ship dealers she had been in contact with. Clank turned his head at how fast she decided to do so. "Pardon me if I am being blunt but, Don't you have governmental assitance to attend to?" He asked fully aware of what happens after a tyrannical emperor is overthrown from experience. Rivet looked at him sheepishly for a few seconds before leaning onto the table with her best attempt at nonchalance she could. "AHh, I'm sure they can handle a week without me helping them. Don't worry yourself Bolts." She said with what everyone in the room could tell was fake confidence designed for people to stop questioning her. This illusion was shattered by Kit. "She has been couped up in the office while only occasionally going out and doing fieldwork for the past few months and pointedly not enjoying it." She said ratting out her partner.

The smile that Rivet was holding was so forced that her teeth were showing with her eyes betraying her that she wanted out in the next few seconds. All the others are now staring at her clearly seeing through the plastic disguise and trying to hold it for as long as possible. She stopped when Ratchet spoke up. "You just want an excuse to get out of the office, don't you." He said knowing the feeling all too well. Rivet pushed off from the table and grabbed Ratchets arms in a vice like grip. "Please let me come with you, I jave been so couped up that I am just itching to go on a mission otherwise I am going to go insane talking about assets, liquidation, economics, accounting and all the stupid laws that we have to fix from THAT STUPID EMPEROR. In fact, I only got to come out here because I happened to be in the area and they are going to be asking me where the fuck I am very soon so please get me out of this system or I may need to go into the Insane Asylum." Rivet shook Ratchet while she was saying all of this.
"ALRIGHT, Alright. There is no need to ask, I would have asked you to come along anyway regardless of circumstance and trust me, I know the feeling all too well." Ratchet said lowering Rivets arms. Her face went red as well as she shrunk in on herself embarrased that she would even ask him to go on an adventure when his actions in the past said that he would. Ratchet also had his face turn red for a split second at just the feeling of Rivets arms on his regardless of the circumstance and the two pointedly looked away from each other and there audience embarrassed at the whole display they just put on. 

Sep saw soemthing else going on entirely and leaned towards Clank to whisper. "Are those two...ya know?" Sep gestured uncertainly and Clank just stared at him as deadpan as a robot could. "It is exactly what you think." He said and to have his assumptions confirmed, he turned to look at Kit who nodded with the exact same expression. He then looked at the two lombaxes now sitting at the table staring at it and away from each other. He then looked to Rivet. "When you get that ship, make sure the rooms have sound proofing please." He asked.

"NOT LIKE THAT." The two lombaxes yelled in unison at the accusation.

Chapter Text

The sound proofing was not needed after all when Rivet was getting the ship they would need for this adventure. Because there was only so much space inside of aphelion and Rivets personal star ship coupled with the length of the journey, they opted for a larger vessel. It was a small light freighter that was acquired from an impound lot and was set to be turned to scrap but Rivet had managed to pull some strings and acquire it for the party of five.
According to the two real Lombaxes, it wasn't that bad of a ship even if it was a little bit on the old side but Sep wouldn't know considering he had only flown in the one ship before. Technically two if he counted the vehicle that took him to the hospital on Luminopolis but that was besides the point. His standards were practically non existent where to him, if it could fly without rattling all the way to the destination then it was good.

They had been in hyperspace for four days at this point and he did not have anything to worry about as freighters were designed to endure long periods in hyperspace like what they were doing. They also had a whole lot of amenities that you would typically find in a house so they could fly in about as much comfort as one could get. According to Rivet, they were designed to be efficient and not comfy unless you were the captain of course leading to numerous cramped living conditions. Sep didn't mind it that much being very familiar with it but the other two would pace through the hallways every now and then. Clank and Kit didn't have a problem with it but then again they were small enough to be back packs so the space was probably massive to them. He would most likely not like it if he were in his original body as he was six foot five and now he had to be somewhere in the five foot range. Still taller than the kenku though.

Ratchet and Rivet had agreed to take turns being in the pilots seat not really piloting but more so just making sure that the ship stayed on course. Sep wasn't allowed to touch the controls mostly because he didn't know any of them and he can't even read the labels in the first place being written in another language besides Lombax script. Speaking of which, that was what Sep was working to alleviate at this point in time. After receiving what could be considered the bare minimum of basic training, Ratchet and Rivet told him how electronics worked here in these dimensions. 
It turned out that he had a knack for this stuff as he quickly got the hang of it in the first day of learning by making a complete circuit. It took him a few tries to get it right but once he did, he eventually moved on to all the other components on a circuit board and there numerous functions. After that, it was more or less an electric jigsaw puzzle that had multiple outcomes. It also helped that he did have experience in this field if a little bit through designing his arm which worked through electrical signals in the nervous system. He and his mentor knew the base principle of how it worked but not how it worked in its entirety. Rivet helped fill the gaps in his knowledge and he likewise, exchanged notes on how his arm worked and she did the same with hers.

By that he means that she provided an entire blueprint saved onto a flash drive. A small finger sized device that could store data digitally which was yet again, insane to Sep as he was thinking of the possibilities such a device could possess. This reality was definitely spoiling him as he wasn't just seeing science fiction but actually living it. They had cybernetics, ships that could touch the skies, planets were no more than a cosmic stones throw away and automata were a dime a dozen. And they also liked logic games which was what Clank and Kit were doing playing numerous strategy games with each other with the Lombaxes joining in on occasion including Sep himself of course. 
But for him, that was only when he had made some progress on his little project and right now, he was putting in the final few screws for the metal housing that all the electronics would sit in. He still hadn't put any software on it yet but it was progress and you can't furnish a house if you don't have any foundations to work off of.

He would need to ask one of the other two to help but he looked at the time and saw that he had been up working on this for a good six hours straight at this point. Yes, the thing was crude, it didn't take a genius to figure that out but he also didn't have any of the proper tools to bring it up to a professional level which he could make once they got back from this adventure where hopefully, Sep could find a way out and back to his home dimension. 
He leaned back in his seat which was part of a larger circular seat around the communal dining table looking at his handiwork. Internally his mind was running a mile a minute looking at all the faults that he could find and thinking about how he could improve them. It wasn't until he picked it up to look at the underside that he realized that he needed a break. His vision was blurring and needed to blink a few times to actually see straight and with clarity. He had been working on the device itself for six hours but had been pouring over technical documents provided by the others for twelve hours beforehand. Normally, he could run for days on end without needing to rest but there were occasions where he would just crash out after only a days work and apparently this was one of those days. 

He put the device down and leaned back in his seat tilting his head up towards the ceiling of the ship and could feel as the tips of his comically large ears touch the wall behind the seat and he was reminded that he was still in a body not his own. It was weird that he had completely forgotten about that fact up until now when he was reminded of it. He brought up his still organic arm and observed it covered in red fur and tipped with small claws where his finger nails were. He could see why Ratchet and Rivet wore gloves all the time outside of being mechanics of course. Those claws could very easily catch on something if one wasn't careful. The fur itself wasn't too bad but it felt weird all over his body as he was used to it being just smooth skin. The only upside was that he didn't sweat as much but instead panted more so than usual so that got canceled out. 

With a huff, Sep dropped his arm to his side and looked out into the hallway which had a direct route to the bridge where the pilot would be. He looked back at his work and decided to leave it and take another look at hyperspace alongside whoever was the pilot. He wasn't keeping track of who was steering the ship at any given point. Outside of meals and someone coming in to grab a snack, He wasn't paying attention. Sep lifted the book that was on the seat beside him and placed it on the table before shimmying out of it and into the hallway towards the bridge-Weird name but alright. 

Sep also took the opportunity to stretch out his limbs feeling them crack and pop from inactivity and stiffness. It always felt satisfying when he stretched his back and feeling the stiffness melt away. After that, he walked through the hallway feeling the cold metal flooring on his bare feet subtly shocking him into enough wakefulness to keep himself upright and moving. The automatic doors to the bridge opened and he found Ratchet in the pilots seat leaning back in the chair balancing a pencil on his nose from boredom. His focus was evident on his face as he was holding his breath to keep from making any disturbance while keeping his body stiff further adding to it. He didn't notice the automatic doors go off, he was that focused. Sep looked to the empty seat next to Ratchet and wondered if he would be welcome here given how focused Ratchet was but he was also too tired to care.

"This seat taken?" Sep asked and that was enough to make Ratchet jump out of his skin and set the pencil tumbling from his nose down the side of his seat. He tried to grab it but it fell onto the floor before he could rolling to a stop right at Sep's foot. He curled his toes around it and picked it up and into his hand presenting it to Ratchet. Ratchet looked up at Sep and saw those abyssal eyes looking back at him but he was more-so focused on what was around those pockets of abyss. Sep had almost got bags under his eyes and he resembled a corpse and he felt that would have been amplified if he wasn't wearing a shirt at this moment. Even then he could still see his muscles poking out revealing the almost malnourished figure. He looked back to the pencil and gesture to the seat. "By all means." Sep looked at the seat before slumping down and sinking into it. It wasn't comfy being designed for practicality but it was enough of a change that Sep didn't mind as he leaned back and stared at the colors of hyperspace flying past.

So many colors that you would swear the cosmos was painted by hand by an overzealous artist who couldn't afford to have a single dark spot on there canvas. If he stared at a single spot then he could see each brush stroke be applied in real time before it is swept away by how fast they were moving. He hoped that deep down that he would never get tired of it as he needed a splash of color in his life every once in a while. 
Ratchet had gone back to balancing the pencil on his nose but had gotten bored of it after a few minutes of Sep coming in and stargazing in silence. He looked over at the dimensionally displaced traveler and couldn't help but think about how he was on the verge of sleep which he sorely needed as he was still awake even after Rivet had a full nights sleep. That also brought up something that he had been meaning to ask but couldn't find the right moment to and that was the deal with the crowbar.

On the one hand, He understood having a weapon at your side at night in case someone came knocking with ill intentions but the way he did it threw him off. The way his body jerked into motion the second Ratchet went to shake him awake made it seem like it was closer to muscle memory. There was also how it shocked him straight into wakefulness. Could he seriously be that light of a sleeper but even then, he should have woken up when he initially called for him. He looked over and realized he had the perfect opportunity in front of him. He didn't need to worry about anybody else coming in at the moment as he had only just started his turn of steering watch an hour ago. He wasn't sure how private a person Sep was but he would probably be more comfortable with just the one person to talk to instead of four in the one room. He placed the pencil on the dashboard before turning his head to face Sep.
"Can I ask you something?" Ratchet asked breaking the silence. Sep rolled his head to the side to look at Ratchets questioning gaze and gave a half-hearted shrug finding himself very tired. "Why do you sleep with a crowbar?" Ratchet asked and whatever bliss Sep was swept up in was quickly brushed away as he went into a state of alertness. 

Sep brought his guard up the moment the question was left to hang in the air not knowing how to answer it. Well, more exactly, he knew ways of answering the question ranging from something short and simple or the truth. His natural inclination was to lie to Ratchet, he had been doing that with just about every one that he met for the past god knows how long. But there was a part in his brain that told him that this was not a time for his usual defense mechanisms to be active but to let the truth out. It was an ugly truth that Sep never liked to talk about, it was one that you had to piece together through hundreds of conversations of random side comments regarding questionable facts he would say on occasion. But maybe he didn't have to this one time. He hasn't trusted a soul in years and for very good reason but Ratchet and subsequently Clank have proven that there friendliness towards others wasn't an act like his mind wanted to think. That friendliness of theirs was genuine and even now with Ratchet sitting beside him. They had this warm and inviting aura around them that encouraged someone to open up and be vulnerable. Sep found that no matter what his mind wanted to do, the truth was the only thing he could say.
He leaned back in his chair letting his body go limp after what had to have been a minute of Ratchet patiently waiting for an answer. Sep began with a sigh. "To put it simply. That was a defense mechanism of mine when I was a teenager...that survived to today. The long and short of it is that I...grew up on the streets and got mugged a few times and well...I found a crowbar that was left to the side which I then nicked and began sleeping with it. If anybody dared try and mug me while I slept then they would be hit with a crowbar. tch...actually worked on the few who dared try and do it. I still did it even after Nimura found me just because of how many years I had been doing it." Sep finished bringing his metal arm up to his face to balance his head in his metallic digits.
"Nimura?" Ratchet questioned having turned his seat around to look at Sep head on or more specifically a frozen Sep.

He froze up at the mention of Nimura and how much his mind brought back memories of him that were some of the very few that he properly cherished. It wasn't the same as his formative years as those memories of Nimura meant so much to him that he would often think of him whenever he needed an edge of motivation. They weren't something that he would just talk about with anyone unless it was specific circumstances. The only thing that stopped him was not just his un-trusting nature but the very reason for that un-trusting nature. He never wanted to talk about the twist at the end of the story that damn near broke him. 
It must have been evident on his face as he felt a hand land on his shoulder. Sep looked up and made contact with those emerald green eyes that contributed to the inviting aura that was Ratchet. He could also make out the faintest reflection of cyan in his eyes and realized that his pupils had revealed themselves. Why did that always have to do that when he was getting emotional like this. It was downright infuriating at times. 

Ratchet squeezed his shoulder in a comforting gesture recognizing the look on Sep's face having seen it himself in the mirror one too many times. It was the look of someone who had a lot bottled up like a dam ready to burst but didn't know how to open the floodgates nor wanted to. "Hey, look. I can tell that you have a lot of stuff going on and I am completely understanding if you don't want to talk about it but sometimes it is good to get it off your chest and tell someone especially if it has been bottled up for years by the sounds of things...but if you don't want to talk about it then I won't hold it against you. I sure as hell know the feeling." Ratchet pulled back and sunk into his own seat turning to look at the hyperspace tunnel they were going to be stuck in for the next couple of days time. He wasn't kidding when he meant that thinking back to the time when Clank went missing for nearly two years and how badly that messed with his psyche. Alister was another touchy subject that he kept bottled up only ever talking to Clank about it. A few others knew of the tale that sometimes kept him up at night such as Talwyn, Cronk and Zephyr and more recently Rivet and Kit and Quark unfortunately. That last one happened when Quark pissed him off even more so than usual that he basically spilled his guts out to him. Quark had been making the effort to not bring up Alister ever since which was one of the very few smart decisions that egomaniac had made in his life.

Septimus adjusted himself in his seat getting into a more comfortable position as his heart pounded away in his chest at all the feelings the topic brought up. He gripped the arm rest harder as a way to ground himself for what was about to be spoken which he had not spoken of ever since the twist happened. With a shaky breath, he began.
"Nimura was...my mentor. He uh...found me after-" He gestures to his prosthetic." This...He was a friend of my parents years ago and didn't even know I was alive until he caught wind of what happened. He offered me a place to stay, an apprenticeship and a new arm. No strings attached. All under what I managed to do which was-in his eyes-solve an impossible problem." Sep gripped the arm rest tighter remembering that day very vividly. He vaguely remembered who Nimura was when he was a lot younger and before he found him again as that man that came by for dinner every now and then but even then, he still didn't fully trust him. That was something very rare on the streets of Drahventer. "It took us a few months what with him teaching engineering but I learned fast and...well...He managed to give me my limb back." Sep took his hand off the arm rest holding it out for Ratchet to see with its central gears where the elbow would be. The small pauldron covering the shoulder. The sharp almost claw like fingers with runes inscribed on each tip. How it was built to vaguely resemble actual muscle groups. It must have been the greatest prosthetic ever made at the time of its construction if what Sep has said is to be believed. He lower his arm down to the arm rest again.
"After that, I...was his apprentice for the next four years helping him out in the workshop building stuff for clients. We occasionally designed weapons before shipping the blueprints off to be manufactured. But regardless, those few years were some of the best...I could sometimes fool myself into believing that I was standing next to my actual Dad every now and then." Sep said remembering the few times he let that slip with Nimura and the playful teasing he would get because of it. He was fully understanding of it and took it as a compliment whenever it happened.

Ratchet watched enraptured in the story and he couldn't help it when he felt a little envious at Sep being able to have memories of his father whereas he had nothing and wouldn't have anything to remember him by until he met Alister for the first time. But he also couldn't overlook how he said that he was standing next to his dad again in the past tense. Given how he was on the streets for a good chunk of his life, he could tell that something happened to his parents too and could really feel that in his soul. Ratchet then made the mistake of looking back at Sep and could see his eyes quivering in thanks to his electric cyan pupils betraying him. Why did he feel like this would take a different turn Ratchet thought before Sep continued with his story.

"That was until......" Sep had the name on his tongue but couldn't let it out because of how he felt in regards to the one who held it. He struggle to get the name out unable to say it without thinking of that moment where it all fell apart. "...*Belstradht*." He finally said with Venom dripping from each syllable. Ratchet could see how he grit his teeth trying to hold in his anger at the name and it was honestly kind of scary. Sep looked like he would lash out any second now he looked angry. But somehow he reigned himself in not enough to erase the look but enough to continue telling the tale. "He was always...the assistant. I was too caught up in being Nimura's apprentice that I couldn't see how he was envious of me. How he always sought to earn his favor. I don't know why I didn't see it until...that night." Sep clutched the arm rest gripping it so tight that his hand was leaving marks in the metal frame under the strain. "I came in to grab something I had forgotten the night before but as I passed Nimura's private workroom." Sep stopped recalling that vivid image. The blood, the stained floor, the withering mentor, the crazed smile of that once loyal assistant. He remembered it all. The subconscious part of his brain screamed at him to stop as this was too much and he was on the brink of tears but for some reason beyond him, he couldn't stop. He had to see this through to the end. "And I saw Nimura...with knife through his chest and *Belstradht* standing over him...I couldn't do anything to help. They ran while I tried to save Nimura but there truly was nothing I could do." Sep could feel the tears welling up ready to burst from his eyes in a tidal wave of emotions. "He told me to burn the workshop down and get out...and that is what I did. I took the plans we had of our latest project and burned the rest to the ground." Sep let his arm fall to his side where his gun was resting in it's holster waiting for the chance to do what it was built for. As the last thing that was ever designed in Nimura's workshop with Sep being the one to finally complete it.

"I swear that if I ever find that fucking bastard...it'll be the last day he will ever live." Sep finished not noticing how his hand had balled up into a fist. He looked down at it consumed in rage at recalling the actions of the once loyal assistant. Then a tear fell staining his pant leg and he couldn't hold it in any more. His breath hitched before he began to sob. Oh, what he wouldn't give to be with Nimura for a few more minutes even if it was just so he could say a proper goodbye like his mentor properly deserved. 
Sep didn't notice the arms around him until he felt the warmth of another figure on him. He looked up and saw Ratchet leaning down to bring him into a warm embrace. He was frozen there until Ratchet spoke. "I can't say that I completely understand how you feel or what you went through...but I have a pretty good idea. It's alright to feel pain and sorrow over this stuff. It's alright to feel angry at one who wronged you when you didn't deserve it. Just...Don't be afraid to ask for help. I know that it can be hard but it really can be the best thing in the universe." Ratchet said holding Sep in his embrace for as long as he needed. The silence lasted ten more seconds than he would've liked and was questioning if he said the wrong thing but he felt it when Sep finally returned the embrace letting the tears flow from his eyes into Ratchets shoulder. Ratchet gave him a few pats on the back not caring that his shirt would be stained. After hearing that story his friend had to tell, he knew for certain he had a lot of buried emotions and needed a hug. He also couldn't help but think of just how long it has been since someone had ever given him one. Or more exactly, how long it had been since he was happy, hell, in the entirety of his time being with him, not once has Ratchet, Clank or either of the girls seen him smile. He didn't want to imagine the rest that Sep wasn't telling him. No one deserves to go through that amount of pain.

The sobbing continued on for a few minutes but Ratchet was patient with Sep knowing it was best to wait until he was ready and not the other way around. "Thanks, Ratchet" Septimus' voice was shaky as he gave one final almost bone crushing squeeze on Ratchet. "I...I really needed that." He said pulling away giving Ratchet a chance to breathe. The two leaned back in each others chairs letting silence fall over them as they mentally unwound from what happened in the past few minutes. Sep looked at Ratchets shoulder where he could see his tear stains covering it. "Sorry for ruining your shirt." He said trying his best to regain his composure. "Hey, don't sweat it. This isn't the first time I've been on the receiving end of an emotional breakdown. Crying is good for the soul after all." Ratchet returned. The two just sat there letting the colors of Hyperspace bask the cockpit in a menagerie of color with Ratchet coming to understand a lot about his new friend. 

The door to the cockpit opened up revealing Rivet wearing a tank top and pajama pants. "You guys up for a round or two of Super Smash Bots Brawl. Kit and Clank are in the middle of a chess match and I am bored." The other Lombax leaned on the door frame to the bridge. Ratchet looked over to Sep and waited until he looked up at him. Ratchet gave a nod with his head in a silent question and Sep seemed to understand it. Sep huffed once before looking to Rivet. "Don't expect anything grand." He said before standing up and following Rivet to where they set up the console they brought with them. Rivet began to explain what the game was to Sep while they walked down the hallway while Ratchet made one final check to make sure they were still on course. Once that was confirmed, he jumped out of his seat and followed the other two. Maybe experiencing a form of entertainment not even conceived would be a good way to wind down after spilling there guts out like that. 

Maybe.

Chapter Text

Turns out that experiencing a new medium of entertainment you never would have conceived of isn't particularly the best at winding down with. While Sep did his best to keep up, it was honestly just painful for the others to watch. They couldn't blame him for it though as he had never experienced it before but it did not mean that it wasn't painful to watch. After a few rounds, he conceded and handed the controller over to Ratchet while he just sat and watched with the two robots utterly enamored with it. To him it was like a puppet show but you could influence the outcome. He had drifted off to sleep after that and thankfully he did not try and hit anybody with his crowbar when they moved him over to his bunk. Guess his brain took a bit to register that he was asleep for it to take effect. Weird.

That was a couple of days ago and they were getting really close to the desired coordinates. While they were in still in transit for what was hopefully the last day of the first leg of the journey, Sep had been tinkering away at his device. With the assistance of everyone around him, he managed to have a cobbled together piece of machinery that should hopefully assist in overcoming the language barrier. They had just flashed the memory with the appropriate firmware with room for expansion should he find something they can do which was almost definitely likely given his need to tinker.
Sep was with Rivet as she was helping him put the finishing touches on the project whilst Ratchet was manning the helm. He also discovered that she had a more crude approach even if it was marginal. That wasn't to say that she was not following proper design laws as she was, she just had a more sticks and stones approach. Sep did his best to make sure that the device itself would not catch fire as a precaution because of this approach. He didn't have anything against Rivet but he preferred Ratchet's way of doing things.

Sep had finally placed the final screw in its proper position and he finally put down his tools and set the device on the table in front of him. "Now for the moment of truth." Sep said glancing towards Rivet who was enraptured with this singular moment. It was always a sight when a novice's first project was going to turn on for the first time. Sep hesitated for a second hovering his metallic digit over the power switch unsure if he should actually go for it. Rivet caught this and took her gaze off of the device and turned to Sep's overly cautious face. "What are you waiting for?" She asked. Sep was pulled from his thoughts and locked eyes with her. "I am just hoping that it doesn't catch fire." He replied by way of explanation.
"Dude, you have double checked that thing so many times that it would be more surprising if that did happen." She said.
"Yeah but, you do realize just how rough you were with it. It is always possible you knocked something out of alignment that we haven't noticed."
"Trust me, if it can survive me then it will surely turn on without hassle, I assure you. Scouts honor." She held up her hand in a three fingered salute as if that would do anything to dissuade from his fears. "A salute is hardly going to give me more confidence in our collective abilities." He said.
Rivet rolled her eyes as his paranoia. "Just flip the switch." She said Broadly gesturing to the device in question before leaning on the table with her arms supporting her chin.

Sep turned back to the device and finally held the courage to flip the switch. It had a satisfying click when flipped upward as the screen came alight with a wall of technical information next to a logo of a company that Sep did not recognize. He was told that this was the devices boot up sequence so he wasn't hyperventilating just yet. After a good ten seconds with a loud beep in the middle, the screen finally came to the screen they had been expecting through the documentation in the firmware. And it decidedly did not explode in his face, in fact, it didn't make so much as a whisper unless he really got close to it.
"Told ya it wouldn't explode." Rivet said with a smug grin adorning her face. Sep turned to her and that smug look on her face and just sighed at his paranoia being just that, Paranoia. "Shut up." He said as he looked over the enclosure while Rivet snickered as she had won the argument. 

Rivet stopped her snickering as they felt the entire ship lurch to one end followed by anything loose and not bolted down rattling momentarily before settling. Sep looked all around him wondering what was going on with all of the worst thoughts going into his head. 
"Don't worry. We just came out of hyperspace." Rivet said glancing to the hallway door where Ratchet was coming from the direction of the cockpit. 
"OK, we are out of Hyperspace in the rough area of where this facility is supposed to be, Clank is doing a survey to narrow down where we need to go so we have a few moments to kill." Ratchet said walking in before his eyes landed on the translator. It was a book sized unit with a screen in the center with various switches adorning a panel settled below the screen with another set of controls on the right of the screen. He also saw that it was currently turned on.
"Oh, Is it finally done?" He took the seat across from Sep and next to Rivet. "Yes, and it decidedly did not explode." Rivet gave Sep the side eye. Sep rolled his eyes at that comment which looked weird on him on account of his pupils not being visible. "Having an experimental piece of equipment exploding on you is a completely reasonable fear." He said in protest. Rivet took her turn to roll her eyes. Some people just have no faith.

"I don't want to sound mean Rivet but I am with him on this one. Something is inevitably going to explode on you at one point or another." Ratchet said. Rivet huffed as she folded her arms leaning back in her seat. "Well, with that out of the way, how well can it translate?" Ratchet asked turning his head to look at the device from as many angles as he could. "Haven't got to that part yet." Sep said grabbing the device and altering the settings for what he wanted to do. "Does Lombax script have a spoken component?" He asked.
"Not that I am aware of. If that were the case then we wouldn't be hearing old Lombax logs speaking in basic." Ratchet answered. With that information, Sep flicked fiddled with the controls until he got them to where he wanted them to be before sliding it over to the Lombaxes. "I made sure to put Infernal on that which does have a spoken component so lets try it on me." Sep said. Ratchet shrugged his shoulders picking up the device. It had input and output labeled clearly with a button ready to go which he had assisted in placing. The guy definitely needed more experience in soldering and fast. "Alright, say something." Ratchet said hitting the appropriate button which also turned on a red light next to said button. He nodded to Sep to speak something in Infernal. "Has zmy oftc va haf vyid suzm idd ao zmuw ofr?" Sep said much to the others confusion. 

However though, the answer would reveal itself in the screen which began to de-scramble what he had said from Infernal to Lombax with the appropriate lexicons. Ratchet read the the output which was translated into Lombax script and read it aloud. "How the fuck do you deal with all of this fur?" He said glancing back up at Sep not expecting something like that. The look on Sep's face was one of surprise as he stared almost reverently at the device he had spent the past week assembling and working on. He glanced up at the two who were waiting for him to say that it didn't work. "It Fucking works." He said allowing the others to deflate from the tension he didn't mean to build.
"It is most impressive that you managed to make a device that worked on the first try given you lack of experience in the field itself." Kit said from down below making the hold table jump feeling there souls leave there bodies before being returned to them in less than a second. Rivet placed her hand on her chest slowing down her breathing. "Kit, please for the love of GOD, Don't do that." Rivet said exasperatedly wondering how the hell a robot can be that quiet or if that was how attuned they were to the situation at hand that they didn't notice.
"My apologies, I didn't mean to scare any of you." She said glancing toward the floor in shame. "Don't worry about it, but what brings you in here" Ratchet spoke up hoping to keep her from receding further into her shell than what she was doing at the moment.

"Oh, I just came in to say that Clank has completed his survey and is requesting all of you to report to the cockpit for a brief." She said tilting her head back up to look at everyone at the table. She had stood on an empty seat by this time. "Does he think he is our general or something now?" Ratchet asked noting the language used. "Oh, he decided to do a bit of acting because this is technically a mission of national importance given the nature of its inception and the people involved." She said innocently enough causing a sigh from Ratchet as he slid the translator back over to Sep. "Welp, you herd em." He said shaking his head at his friends antics. Sep leaned to Rivet. "Does Clank do that a lot?" 
"Only on occasion or when the mood strikes from what I have seen but...Kits right, lets see what bolts has to report." She said before standing up from her seat and following Kit out of the door. Sep watched them go before looking back to his project. He knew that it was working with the speech to text function at least and that was enough for him at the moment so he flicked the switch off and took it with him into the cockpit.

Sep walked into the crammed cockpit with each member taking up a different seat which left Sep standing at the very back on account of no more seating being available for him. Clank was setting up something on the main console and the chairs had been swiveled so they were all facing toward the center of the room. "The survey is complete and for once, I have nothing but good news to report." Clank began as he tapped a button projecting a flat holographic plane into the middle of the seating arrangements. "Wait, are you sure you only have good news?" Ratchet perked up also attracting the attention of everyone else. Usually when someone says they have good news, it meant they also had bad news to go along with it. To say that everyone was calling bullshit on such a statement would be an understatement. That just flat out never happens. "Indeed, for once, the only real danger is the local flora and fauna. Of which, the facility in question is lacking in both departments." Clank continued tapping a few more buttons on the main console changing the hologram before them. The image displayed showed just simple shapes as stand ins for the actual thing on account of not actually knowing what the facility in question looked like.

"The facility in question is located deep in the mountains of this world, northern hemisphere specifically. Low tectonic activity in the area and a potentially good landing spot with only a ten minute walk to the facilities main entrance. Or at least what should be the main entrance based on galactic conventions." Clank finished illustrating each of his points through the hologram. To Sep, it was almost like an illusion being performed by a Mage on his home world except it came from a technological source. This realm was endlessly fascinating to him. 
"OK, that is all well and good but what about scavengers or Imperial Loyalists, surely the latter is here as well if they have the coordinates in the first place." Rivet said.  Kit piped up. "If that were the case then they would have already began attacking us the moment we came out of Hyperspace. So, odds are good that we are presently alone at this time." The others nodded along as it was good logic. Sep just looked at her and finally noted the similar design language of her frame when compared to the robots that attacked them on Savali. The inherent knowledge in imperial tactics and similar design language had him asking if she formerly worked with them. That was more questions for later though as they had a mission right now. 
"So, outside of that, are we pretty much safe to go down planet side or is there some government saying that sight is off limits for preserving history or some shit." Ratchet said turning in his seat to get the ship prepped for descent.
"Surprisingly, scanners did not pick up any signs of civilization across the planet so we should be fine." Clank said swapping seats with Rivet who took up the co pilots seat while he went to the back seat offering it to Sep who took it not wanting to be standing during a landing procedure. "Welp. In any case, strap yourselves in." Ratchet said flipping switches. According to the two of them when asked, star ships usually had two flight modes-sub light and hyperspace. This was because the two while similar were very different to one another and needed different settings and such. Surprisingly, that was the most sensible thing he had heard in this realm since he wound up here.

Sep did up his seat belt and the two Lombaxes began flying the ship downwards. Apparently, industrial ships such as this one required two pilots when landing and ascending for some reason. The ship lurched as the engines engaged and they began there descent. It was fine for the first few minutes until they got into the upper atmosphere where the turbulence began to kick in and the pilots had to actually put in some work to keep them airborne. The ship also began to rattle more intensely than Aphelion ever did and he swore that some of the rivets holding the metal panels in place were going to shoot out due to shear vibration. They still held but Sep just grabbed onto the closest safety handle he could grab  regardless. The air outside of the canopy quickly got more intense the further down they went and glancing over to where the pilots gloves met the controls, he could see visible strain as they did there best to keep the thing from tumbling out of the sky. It was a harrowing few minutes until they finally burst through the cloud cover and could see the ground a few thousand meters below them. Once they had pierced the clouds, they pulled back on the controls and leveled out and the rattling settled down drastically as they continued flying to there destination.

Sep let out a breath he didn't even know he was holding as the turbulence decreased to something much more manageable. Rivet heard this and glanced back at Sep shakily holding onto the handle next to him shaking in his seat. "You can let go now." She said snapping him out of it. Sep did as he was told and placed a hand over his heart taking small breaths to even out his breathing. The others in the cabin, cool as cucumbers, the lot of them. Ratchet flicked some switches while he pulled up a map on the Heads Up Display which also showed there ship with a way point telling them where to go. "You want to fly us in or should I?" Ratchet asked to Rivet sitting across from him. A small smirk grew on her face as she looked back to him. "This is still your shift so why don't you do that while I make sure our weapons are in order hotshot." Rivet replied standing up out of her seat and walking towards the door with Kit following closely behind her leaving just the boys in the cabin. Sep not having anything else to do took up Rivets spot and looked at the landscape flying by as they came close to there destination. While it wasn't anything he wouldn't have seen back home, it was still stunning seeing mountains this big flying past. He never left the desert until a few years ago and even then, he had never got the chance to gaze upon mountains this close, let alone from this kind of angle that cartographers would kill for.

His gaze sweeped across the canopy taking it all in before resting on the only thing unnatural thing in the distance. It was clearly an industrial building but with a different style than that he had seen on the previous planets he had seen. The main difference was the architecture which bared a slight resemblance to Aphelion now that he was looking for it. It would be genuinely surprising if this wasn't the facility they were looking for but another one entirely but this didn't feel like that kind at all. Unless this world was supposed to be a colony then there wouldn't be any other buildings for miles so this had to be it and he felt something pulling him there that felt familiar but not at the same time. By this time, Ratchet had pulled up to a landing pad that was thankfully just outside of the main building which he decided to use. 

The landing pad itself was covered in debris that had rusted over for what had to be decades at this point. The rest wasn't any better either. The landing area was scorched with blast marks and debris either from upturned paths or ships that once occupied the space or whatever was on the deck at the time of attack. Ratchet had hovered the ship into position and flipped a heavier switch that held the landing gear before gently letting the ship touch the ground. There was a noticeable clunk as the weight of the ship settled on the landing gear before a subtle rise before settling again. Ratchet went to work powering down everything whilst Clank peaked his head over his shoulder to instead look at what Sep was seeing. "Oh my." He said putting a hand over his mouth. Ratchet glanced up only for a second before going back to what he was doing. He paused and then glanced back up to actually register what was in front of him and it was the same thing that Sep was seeing. Sep leaned in toward Clank. "I thought you said there was no danger here." Sep leaned his hand on the main console while Clank turned to look at him. 
"The evidence before us clearly suggests that it happened many years ago. It does not mean that there is any immediate threat." He said trying to claim innocence. Ratchet silently agreed with him. But he also couldn't help but think of the possibility of something hiding in the main building waiting to pounce on them but looking at it. He could tell that it was in too much disrepair for it to be a base of any sorts especially with the door blown off of its hinges. Just what happened here.

"I gotta agree with Clank here but, best have your weapon at the ready just in case." Ratchet said while turning the main consoles display off and standing up to go out of the cabin and to load up. Sep followed suit behind Clank.

They emerged into the cargo bay where Kit was nestled on Rivet's back and she was priming one of her guns just in case. "So, whats the scoop?" She asked as she stowed the weapon of mass destruction into her arsenal tool and turned towards them. 
"Well, the outside looks demolished as some fight happened a long time ago and the main door is blasted wide open. So in terms of finding someone living here, it is just not happening. But weapons up just in case." He said going through his own arsenal scrolling by weapons before pulling out a simple heavy blaster pistol. Sep followed suit as he chose his sword that he had stashed in there finding it more helpful than his bag of holding especially in a combat scenario. He stowed it on his back before equipping the shotgun finding it worked really well in close quarters. "Alright well,"-She hit a button on the side of the wall-"No time like the present." Rivet finished as the main loading ramp began to descend allowing the cold mountain air to rush in. Everyone took a whiff of it having been holed up in what was essentially a steel box for the past week without fresh air. The cold that went down there nostrils and throats was crisp and cold and was sorely needed.

They proceeded down the ramp with Sep and Rivet taking up the front while Ratchet made the ramp ascend. They all had there respective weapons out and walked across the metal deck looking every which way waiting for something to jump out at them and take all they were worth. But as they got closer, Sep felt that strange feeling get stronger the close to the building they got. "It's here." He said to nobody in particular readjusting the grip on his shotgun. "What makes you say that?" Rivet questioned from beside him still keeping her eyes on what was in front of her. "I can just feel it." Sep provided by way of explanation. "Well, lets hope that feeling is right." Ratchet chimed in pulling up the rear with Clank providing surveillance to his back. Kit was also performing this action.

They reached the main door and it was well and truly fucked having been blown off of its hinges with what had to have been a massive piece of ordinance given the crate in the knee high slab of metal lying on the ground. Sep stopped to look at the impact crater but felt something touch his boot. Looking down, he saw what it was. A pile of bones in the rough approximation of a hand with the rest of the body clearly being crushed underneath the no doubt heavy door. "Oh dear." Rivet said further ahead grabbing the attention of everyone else as she turned so kit could see from her position on her back. Ratchet walked up to her side and saw it as well and it took his breath away. In front of what had to have been the main reception area were skeletons. Not just any skeletons but Lombax skeletons in all manner of positions along with another set of skeletons of a species that only Ratchet and Clank recognized. Cragmites.
Something welled up inside of Ratchet as he stared at the remnants of there people and he couldn't place it. He couldn't tell if it was grief, anger or some combination of all of them but it was enough for him to feel sorrow. The only solace he could find is that he knew his people had been avenged and these men and women did not die in vain.

Sep had walked up alongside the others but unlike them, stared into space. The way two skeletons were layed out triggered something in his brain and he saw some other people in a very similar position. His breath hitched as he was transported back to that day oh so long ago that he would never forget for it had been ingrained so far onto his psyche that he could still remember every vivid detail to this day. Why did it have to be them why couldn't he-
"Hey you OK?" Gloved fingers were snapped in front of his face. They were Rivet's and she looked worried for him as her eyes shone more clearly than before. Wait. He could tell that her eyes did not glow and for that cyan glint to be occurring then it had to have meant that he was doing it. He blinked a few times before looking back at the sea of skeletons before resting his eyes on a handle sticking out of a small pile of ash. Without thinking, he walked towards in as it was lying flat on the ground just out of reach of one unfortunate Lombax who had a Cragmite laying close by attacking him. 
His interest piqued, he took the handle into his grip and slowly lifted it. It was an Omniwrench same as Ratchets except the blues were exchanged for a dark Grey with red accents. The ash the head was covered in fell away like cascading sand on a dune revealing the still intact head. He shook off the rest of the ash to feel the grip in his hand. While it was a bit too top heavy for his liking, he couldn't deny the power he felt from it as he let the weight settle in his grip. He could see why Ratchet liked it so much. "Isn't it a bad idea to go rooting through he dead's belongings." Kit asked from Rivets back causing Sep to turn and look back at the others eying him warily. 

He looked over to Ratchet to provide an answer being the most familiar with Lombax customs out of all of them even if it wasn't by much. He looked upward before slowly shaking his head in a so so gesture. "I don't know the customs of looting dead bodies but that guy was most likely a soldier and its possible he would like someone to take his weapon and...I don't know...keep the line going or something...?" Ratchet thought out loud glancing over his shoulder to Clank who was better at this than he was. Sure he worked with the galactic rangers for a time but nothing he experienced through that involved looting dead bodies unless it was for something they needed. "Actually, I can answer this one." Kit said from Rivets back. Rivet turned her body around for her to explain her reasoning. "While going through the archives, The Lombaxes detailed various military protocols and traditions and it was custom that an Omni wrench be passed down when a soldier is either retired or on the brink of death." She explained. 

Everyone turned there head to Sep still holding the wrench in his metallic hand and it for some reason felt right seeing that in his grip. Sep glanced to everyone before settling on Ratchet who had the beginnings of a grin grow on his face before nodding toward him. "I think...that the guy wouldn't mind if you put his weapon to good use." He said gesturing to the item in question. Sep looked down onto the weapon and looked at the Matt surface with years of dust on it which he wiped away with his hand. He looked back at a reflection of himself with cyan eyes glowing and he couldn't help but feel like it was just right. He glanced back up and that grin that Ratchet now sported while he had his arms crossed was permission enough for him. 

They were all brought out of it by the loud beeping of a communicator. Kit closed her eyes for a second before opening them again. "What is it?" Rivet asked body tensing for a fight. "I am detecting imperial forces entering the planets gravity." She said and all the atmosphere in the room went away immediately as the others pulled up there weapons and looked outside where they could hear sonic booms peppering the sky even if they couldn't see the ships that were no doubt coming down. Ratchet rolled his eyes. "Well, we better not let them get anywhere close to that prism or whatever the hell its called." he said bringing his weapon up.
Sep couldn't help but think of this being similar to that of a classic treasure hunting story with ruins filled with traps and the like and...
"I have an idea. Kit, do you know if this facility has traps of any sort?" Sep asked hastily. Kit looked surprised and wondered where he was going with this. "Outposts like this are indeed installed with puzzles and traps that can only be disabled by someone with high enough clearance. Why?" She tilted her head in confusion at what he was thinking. "Then we let them come." Sep said.

Everyone in the rooms eyebrows shot up and they all turned to him and gawked like he had grown a second head or something similar. "That is an ill advised idea Septimus." Clank spoke for everybody when he said that. "I know but think about it. We let the traps take care of the invading force whilst we pick off the stragglers." Sep reasoned. They were all about to retort but thought better of it actually considered the idea. The idea hinged almost entirely on making sure none of them died by the end of it but it would also hinge on the blood lust that the loyalists felt towards them. That factor happened to be quite a lot. Ratchet looked to Rivet and Clank to Kit and they could all see the merit in such a hair brained scheme which was something that they all lived for. Ratchet nodded towards Rivet letting her be the one to make the decision. A sly grin formed on her face as she looked at Sep. 

"Lead the way Trailblazer" She said.

Chapter Text

Everything was silent or at least it would be if the silence wasn't disturbed by metallic footsteps. A small sect of Imperial loyalists marched up the landing pad not bothering to take in the surrounding scenery as they were here for a very specific reason. They managed to find evidence of something that could potentially see the emperors dream come to fruition even if he wasn't around to see it through himself anymore. Regardless, There glorious emperor will get his dream even if they have to die to make it so. All those Squishie's and there talk of fairness and equality was sickening to them. There is a reason it is referred to as an Iron Fist when someone is in control and that is what they were intending to do. The phase gate prism as it was called was supposed to make traversing dimensions possible without a Dimensionator. The only problem was that it was in another galaxy entirely and the coordinates were kept hidden from them for the longest time. 

The squadron walked along the landing pad to a massive set of double doors which were ajar and ripped off there hinges respectively. The squadron halted there progress to look at the room in question and had to take pause not knowing that there were this many Lombaxes in the universe at all besides the ever loathsome Rivet. But the fact that they were dead was good enough for them. Good riddance to all of those squishie's even if they never encountered there glorious empire before they perished. Heavier footfalls could be heard behind the squadron as a Juggernaut came lumbering in after having the force in front spread out to give him room. The skeletons on the ground rattled from there decades long stillness as they walked in and observed the site before them. They were not impressed in the slightest. 
This was supposed to be a facility holding one of the most valuable artifacts anyone could have and they were all dead before the force even got there. Pathetic. The Juggernaut glanced over his shoulder to his lieutenant, "Any sign of them?." They asked. The lieutenant held up there tablet displaying readings of the surrounding structure looking to provide the appropriate answer. They were originally meant to set out for this location a few days before they did. The reason was because of two Lombaxes being sighted along the way and the Emperors will waited for no one. Especially not the pair of Squishie's that felled there glorious empire as loathsome as he was to admit it. Because that force never reported back, It was very possible they found out what they were up to so they had to move out fast if they still want to achieve there goals. 

The lieutenant turned to the Juggernaut who was also there commander with his eyes wide. "I'm afraid I am detecting movement further in." They said and the Juggernaut jerked there head forward to the doors leading further into the facility which were open. 

They had company.

"Is it too late to say I am having second thoughts on this idea?" Kit asked from Rivets back as the three Lombaxes had there guns aimed at the door they had previously came from having already suffered the first trap on there path. "Yep, besides, they want all of our heads so this is almost a guaranteed success for us." Rivet replied before glancing to Sep who was in the middle of them. "Except for you of course." She added. Sep shot her a glance for a split second before the doors in front of them hissed open and they heard metallic footsteps approach. Ratchet glanced over Sep and to Rivet with a cocky grin. "So, how much do you reckon they want to kill us?" He asked like dying was a game to them. Before Rivet could answer, A laser trooper rounded the corner and stood still as it landed its eyes upon three Lombaxes at the other end of the corridor. 
"ITS THEM, THE SQUISHIES ARE HERE. GET OVER HERE SO YOU SHALL PAY FOR YOUR CRIM-" he never finished as they ran toward them and into a Laser grid slicing him into a lot of pieces which crumbled forward with its momentum. Part of the glass dome making up its head rolled forward and stopped a few feet short of the trio. Rivet looked over to Ratchet. "Enough that they forgo personal safety to achieve it." She replied to his earlier question. He chuckled and rolled his head fondly at such an answer as he looked back hearing more footsteps approach. "Well, either way, it works to our advantage so lets be ready to move." Sep said breaking the moment between those two as he was looking at the hallway further down ready to run.

As if to prove his point, a laser bolt shot right between them forcing them to look back at where the shot came from. A horde of troopers had set up positions and begun firing talking about upholding the emperors will and avenging there comrade. The last part was the only one that they could agree with to some extent. "Time to go." Ratchet said returning fire while slowly walking back to the doors as the grid flared to life once again. More and more troops began to pile in but the laser grid proved to much for them until a set of lumbering footsteps overtook everything else. The Juggernaut came around the corner and saw what was happening and looked up to where the lasers were coming from.
He then looked to see the Lombaxes firing back and decided not to wonder how they got over there unscathed and instead make there way over. He aimed one of his arms up and shot out the lasers on the roof. The lasers finally stopped and the troops could move forward without effort. 

Ratchet muttered something under his breath as he turned and began to run to the door which the others were holding open for him. Once he got through, they slammed it shut before turning on there heels and running deeper into the facility. "Well, at least we know this plan will work." Rivet said as they entered the next room in there way and the floor began to move throwing them all off balance. "Great, moving platforms. Of course." Ratchet rolled his eyes as he and the others got up. Sep looked around and saw that there were also metal spikes welded into some of the plates looking ready to skewer them to the floor or ceiling if they weren't too careful. Up ahead, the panels on the floor opened up revealing roiling magma just below the surface illuminating the area above in a sinister red glow. Sep's eyes went wide wondering what kind of barbarian designed this place. He also heard the door behind them begin to be pounded over and over again as they stood in place. "Lets move." Rivet yelled pulling him from his stupor and instead pulling him forward.

The doors burst open as the Juggernaut stepped through and pointed its arm forward. "AFTER THEM." It yelled as it fired off a few of its own armaments towards the fleeing Lombaxes who dodged the incoming projectiles. Sep's fight or flight kicked in and he made sure to keep track of everything going on around him. The positions of his group, the movement of each plate, spike face, and lava pool and most importantly, what shots were being fired where. For making sure he didn't fall into anything, he mostly followed the other two whose companions were barking out warnings as to what was coming which they both reacted to with ease. They had clearly been doing this routine for a long time. They all flipped through the obstacles with ease, well all of them except for Sep who still wasn't used to being this agile yet. All the while, they had laser bolts being shot there way while other troopers who weren't keeping up with there surroundings perished in all the ways you would expect. While the plan for the facility to take care of them was all dependent on them not dying, it was certainly baring fruit as the forces were easily cut down by about half by the time they reached the other end. Ratchet was the first to the door and began laying down cover fire while the other two closed the distance. 

Sep and rivet made it to the other side and the second Ratchet turned around to follow, they heard the distinctive sound of a missile. Turning around, he saw a missile from the juggernaut fly through the air towards them. "JUMP." He yelled out leaping into the other room just as the missile struck where he was standing not two seconds before. The force of the explosion sent them all flying into the other room and down through numerous tubes going downwards and everyone got separated as they fell.

Sep somehow positioned himself in such a way that he could see what was happening and his heart rate was going through the roof as the floor of the tunnel rapidly approached. He glanced at the wall he was closest too and saw it curved towards the bottom like a slide. He angled himself to slide against the wall as it transitioned to being horizontal instead of vertical with his metal arm grinding sparks as he gradually came to a stop at the bottom. He stared a the ceiling for a few moments while he let his heart rate and head catch up. Was this what the others felt on a regular basis because if so, he was not sure if he could take it even if they aren't as bad over time. 
He barely got a chance as not ten seconds into it, he heard a distressed yelling come from above him and he could see a small metallic box like shape coming down towards him. It was Clank. He sat up and positioned himself to catch the robot who wasn't able to slow down like he did.

He positioned himself just right and felt the weight of the robot push him back as he caught them throwing him off his feet. He went careening backwards on his back until he slid to a stop with a small green eyed robot on his front. He breathed out for a few seconds as the robot shook its head and looked up into Sep's eyes. "Are you alright?" Clank asked eyes going wide in worry for his companion at this time. "Just fine." Sep groaned out lifting Clank off of him and moving to get back onto his feet. 
"It seems that the moving platforms is at least keeping them busy but it would be prudent if we make haste regardless. The others should be at the other end of the tunnel." He said as Sep held his side feeling the ache of sliding down a however many meter long tube. Speaking of which, the tunnel ahead had a monorail ready for use as the tunnel angled downward. "Yeah, you sure Ratchet will be fine without you?." Sep asked as he began walking forward. 
"This is not the first time we have been separated so I have full faith he will be fine. You on the other hand I am not sure on." Clank said making Sep stop in his tracks and turn back toward the small robot half his height. Clank raised his finger. "That is not to say that I don't trust your abilities, it is just I have not seen enough of you in combat to come to anything conclusive." He added before Sep could interpret the comment as offensive.

More explosions were heard above causing the two of them to turn there heads towards it. "Then lets get moving." Sep said pulling out the Omniwrench he now held. He had a feeling that whatever trial this leg of the facility held woudln't exactly be conducive to the use of his great sword. The wrench on the other hand felt more at home in this kind of environment. The two of them walked until they came to where the floor dropped to a monorail matching the curvature of the tunnel heading downward. "Ah a grind rail, This should take us to where we need to go." Clank said and Sep turned to him in confusion. "Grind rail?" He questioned looking down at him. Clank was about to ask something like was he an idiot or something but thought better of it reminding himself that he was from a different dimension and they likely didn't have grind rails there. 

"It is simple really, Just need to change your boots over to grind mode and we ride all the way to the bottom. Just don't lose your balance." Clank said glancing at Sep's boots. Sep was confused by the whole concept not understanding why that was seen as the best way down when a simple mine cart would have been more than sufficient but the longer he stayed here, The more he realized that this place was made by a barbarian and logic meant nothing to them. "OK, how do I do that?" He asked. "Just click your heels together." Clank informed and Sep looked down grinding the soles of his boots rub against each other feeling for the mechanism. He found it after a bit and did as instructed slamming each of his heels together. The boots themselves transformed sprouting metal components raising him up by no more than a centimeter. "I hardly see how that amount of metal is going to survive this." He muttered lifting one of his feet to look at the metal now coating the sole of his boot. "You would be surprised." Clank said as he positioned himself at Sep's back before jumping up to his back. Sep felt the magnets in the back of his shirt attract Clank yanking him forwards slamming the small robot to his back. "What the Fuck!" He exclaimed. 
"Calm down, it is only me. I can't grind on rails like Ratchet can." Clank explained as Sep was comprehending how Clank was a whole lot lighter than he would have thought. Explosions were heard behind them and the tunnel itself lit up as loyalists came into earshot or maybe they were yelling about there glorious emperor that loud. "But I can serve as a really good set of eyes on the back of ones head and I suggest we get going before they catch up." Clank said. Sep took a look at the rail in front of him and took a deep breath hoping he could pull this off. At least he was a fast learner. He walked up to the start of the rail positioning his feet appropriately spreading his arms out wide before releasing his breath and pushing off. 

The grind rails were surprisingly more forgiving than one would have expected. It took a bit for Sep to get the hang of not used to the ground moving under his feet without him physically moving but he managed to find a balance. Red warning lights illuminated the tunnels interior broken up only by the yellow sparks on Sep's boots. He focused on what was ahead watching for any deviations in the path and adjusting accordingly so he would fall and potentially tear off a not insignificant amount of flesh. It was all going so well until he reached a point where the rail had a support strut in his path.
It was rapidly gaining so he did the only thing he could think of which was to jump over it. He jumped higher than he expected but it didn't feel like it came from his legs but instead the energy coming from the boots themselves. Whatever it was proved beneficial as he jumped over the barrier and landed on the other side albeit stumbling still not used to landing on a rounded surface such as the rail beneath him. He felt movement on his back and had to mentally remind himself that it was Clank and not something that wanted to kill him like it would otherwise be. "Septimus, watch out." Clank said over his shoulder. Sep turned his head around and saw a small squad of troopers flying toward him both with there own thruster packs and grinding on the rail themselves but not nearly as adept at it as Sep was proving to be.
"Any advice would be good right about now." Sep yelled over his back focusing on not flailing on the upcoming barrier that was equipped with an exposed wire crackling. He put more power into his leap than the previous barrier and just barely cleared it landing on the other side. "As you said, let the traps do the work and pick off the stragglers when you get the chance." He yelled just as laser bolts began to fire upon him.
Sep did his best to jump and duck when appropriate not having the option of multiple rails. Then again neither did they.

Sep looked around trying to find a way to take out at least a few of them. He looked at the ceiling hoping for turrets of some kind, maybe one of those live wires could...He had an idea. The rail he was on was made of metal and he just had the thing ready to go. He turned back to see at least three troopers on the rail with him struggling to stay on top. He looked back ahead and saw the perfect opportunity. A barrier was rapidly approaching and it looked like a second one not long after. He would only get one chance at this so he needed to be fast and precise and not hesitate. 
The barrier raced towards him and Sep opened his metal hand with blue sparks coming from it ready for his plan. He jumped over the first barrier just fine with the next one coming not long after. Looking back, the loyalists were just about to reach the barrier and Sep his. He crouched low so he had as much energy as possible for this. Before the barrier came upon him, He leaped into the air early sending himself tumbling forwards before punching the rail with his metal hand causing that portion of it to spark with Aetherial energy. He managed to use the punches momentum to fling himself over the barrier just barely missing it by no more than a few centimeters. The loyalists behind him weren't so lucky as by the time they hit the rail, They were all shocked just enough to send them tumbling over the side where there metal chassis  grinded against the tunnel floor into a million pieces.

Sep didn't watch that carnage being more concerned with remaining upright as he landed on the other side engaging the grind boots again. He tumbled slightly but Clank somehow produced a propeller from his arm to push him back onto the rail. Once he got his footing back, he turned to look at his metal companion. "Since when could you do that?" Sep exclaimed. "Ever since I first met Ratchet." The robot replied. Sep rolled his eyes because of course that was the answer. Clank glanced to there right. "Incoming laser trooper." Clank called out. Sep looked over and saw the trooper gaining on him readying is guns  to fire upon him. A few shots were fired and Sep repeated the routine of ducking and jumping when necessary mentally thinking he needed to get himself one of those thruster packs sometime or something similar. He made a quick glance to his left and saw another trooper gaining on him ready to box him in with the other. Last mistake they ever make. 
The trooper on his left fired a few shots with one being caught in Sep's hand as he absorbed the elements in it holding his wrench and looking to the one on his right. He tipped his toes forward acting as brakes slowing him down just enough for him to jump and swing at the thruster pack on the right troopers back. Absorbing the laser bolt proved to be just enough to give his attack just that extra little bit of power needed to destroy the pack and send them hurtling into a wall forming a smaller ring in the grind rails path. His brakes worked really well as he was now behind the laser trooper on his left. He pulled out his revolver and fired a trio of scorching rays right at there back also blowing them to hell and back. There chassis fell from the air and into the ground grinding across it much like the others which were still coming. Glancing up ahead he saw two turrets mounted on the roof turn there barrels towards him charging up ready to fire. He rolled his eyes because of course they would be this far down. "How close are the stragglers." He called over his shoulder. Clank took stock of there positions and they were gaining on him. "Currently four of them are close and gaining." He reported cool as a cucumber. He must have been used to it.

But the fact that they were gaining was perfect for him as he didn't need to slow down as much as he needed to for this. He tipped his toes forward again turning his head around watching as the troopers lined up there guns upon him. They fired one second too late as Sep leaped high into the air using one of the troopers as cover as the turrets targeted it instead of him. The corpse fell from the air as all the others while the other turret took out the next one for him. The last two however took to the grind rail as glancing blows from the turrets as they dodged went for there thruster packs. Sep grinded through the choke point as the turrets couldn't turn around that far to fire upon him meaning they were no longer an option. Sep kept up the routine of leaping and ducking as he looked around for anything to help him but there was nothing and the last two troopers were gaining on him. "I have a bad feeling about this." Clank exclaimed from his back. "No shit Sherlock." Sep retorted not in the mood but before Clank could retort, he heard something click up ahead.
Looking forward, he saw something built into the rail screaming towards him. On closer inspection, it was a pair of counter rotating saw blades built around the rail coming right at them. Looks like the facility would give him his break after all and if all went well...not so much for his pursuers. He leaped on the rail turning himself around and pulling out his rifle. He fired off potshots not meant to hit anything as he just needed them to be distracted just long enough.

"Septimus." Clank yelled out as the blades were screaming closer and louder and Clank was getting a front row seat to it. Sep heard it but ignored it firing off just a few more shots fueling his pursuers blood lust for him just that little bit longer. "SEP." Clank yelled again with audible panic but it wasn't quite right for him. The laser shots that came back at him were numerous but Sep did his usual routine as the saw blades were damn near on top of them. "SEPTIMUS!!" Clank screamed as the blades came within meters of them and only then did Sep jump.
He put as much power into his legs as possible back flipping over the blades as they shredded the troopers to pieces scattering shrapnel all over the tunnel. He turned mid air and planted his feet on the rail grinding forward with the imminent danger long past. He saw the end of the tunnel approaching and tipped his toes forward to slow down before jumping off and running before slowing down to a complete stop. Sep released a breath he did not know he was holding as he took a knee leaning on the Omniwrench. He felt Clank detach from his back and walk up in front of him. "Are you hurt?" Clank asked with visible concern.

Sep looked himself over before bringing the tip of his tail around in front of him to find that only a small tuft of fur got cut clean off and he barely felt it. "Aside from that, I'm fine." Sep answered looking at the robot who slumped there shoulders in relief. Then planted there hands on there hips and looked at Sep with a stern expression. "I swear you are nearly as bad as Ratchet sometimes." He said placing a hand on his chest where his heart would otherwise be. "Lets keep moving and hope the rest are taken care of." Clank said hopping onto Sep's back again. Sep seconded the notion and got back on his feet running to the next room in the chain. He saw other tunnels with there own rails built into the wall. They were both blaring the same red lights that illuminated the tunnel he came from allowing him to see into them. He turned his back so Clank could see and maybe his green robot eyes could see something he couldn't. 

But he didn't need fancy optics as a large explosion lit up the tunnel framing a Lombax silhouette screaming down the rail. A few seconds later, The silhouette proved to be Ratchet who flipped off the rail and rolled to a stop in front of Sep with a distraught looking Kit on his back. He rose up and looked at Sep with wide eyes that were filled with panic for a split second before that cocky grin of his returned to smother his face. "So, how would we rate the express route?" He asked resting his wrench on his shoulder. Sep was about to answer but was interrupted by Clank, "He nearly gave me a heart attack." He said bluntly. Ratchet would have asked how but Kit bet him to the punch. "Saw blades?" She asked.
"Saw blades." Clank answered. "I figured, Ratchet here nearly went backwards into them if he didn't leap over them at the very last second." She said. Sep's and Clank's eyes went wide as they stared incredulously at the two unable to comprehend that Ratchet had what sounded like the exact same idea as them. Ratchet took a bit longer to register the implications and returned the incredulous stare. 

A rumble echoed through the facility and they heard yelling coming from the third and final tunnel. They both ran to it only to see a frantic Rivet jumping around for dear life with a weapon in hand whilst being shot at by a beaten up and angry Juggernaut. "RIVET!" Ratchet yelled drawing her attention to him with panicked eyes that came back around to confident after a few seconds. She turned around grinding backwards on the rail and fired a salvo of rockets at the Juggernaut before jumping off the rail and rolling to a halt while the Juggernaut shot out of the tunnel and into the wall. Rivet panted on the spot taking a brief moment of respite. "I give that transportation service a zero out of five stars." She said looking back to the boys. She got pack on her feet patting herself down and Ratchet fondly shook his head. "Rivet." Kit said from Ratchets back detaching herself to run up to her partner checking over for injuries. She spotted a few and produced a vial of nanotech for her. The vial was crushed as the nano bots went to work in stitching up Rivet where she got hit and Kit jumped onto her back. "Thanks." Rivet said standing back up. Clank also took the initiative to get onto the back he was more familiar with.

Sep looked at the door to the next room over and it was ajar with the smell of something putrid coming from it. "The hell is that?" He asked to no one in particular. Both the Lombaxes took a whiff of the air and weren't as repulsed by it as he was. "Smells like fuel." They both said in unison. This shocked the both of them as they turned to look at the other before chuckling to themselves at the timing. "This must have been the reactor they used to power this facility." Kit noted from Rivet's back. "But I am also picking up a large energy signature on the other side of the room." Kit said.
Sep being prompted by her words, closed his eyes and felt the energy in the air be a lot stronger now and he could confirm the position was a few rooms over from there current position. "Yeah, its just a few rooms over." Sep said turning to the others who nodded in agreement at the next course of action. "Well, what are we waiting for?" Rivet said taking the first few steps forward.

A series of heavy ordinance blocked the doorway blasting the three of them off there feet back towards the tunnels. The Juggernaut lifted itself back onto its feet looking beaten up with multiple plates missing and scorch marks all over. "Your doom is what I am waiting for." It ground out in that grating vocoded voice that it along with all the other troopers sported. The Lombaxes got up onto there feet and drew there weapons. Ratchet wanted to use a specific weapon to finish it off but with the fuel behind it, he didn't want to risk blasting themselves away in the process or bring the whole ceiling down upon them. He couldn't risk it.
Rivet looked just behind the Juggernaut whose head just barely scraped the ceiling and saw the fuel tanks just in the open when an idea formed in her head. She glanced over to Ratchet, "Got the cryomine glove?" She asked and Ratchet nodded wondering what she was thinking. "When I say so, hit the floor with it." She added on and Ratchet got an inkling of an idea as to what she was thinking. The Juggernaut raised both of its arms charging up a salvo of shots and that was there cue to move.

They all leaped out of the way dodging the barrage of laser blasts and missiles. Ratchet had swapped out his gun for the Cryomine Glove and was holding a frosty grenade ready to throw it when he got the chance. The Juggernaut saw him and aimed its arms ready to shoot him but was distracted by shotgun rounds to the head. Sep was running around the side of the machine firing off the shells in his shotgun which were doing more than the last time he did this. It did the trick and the Juggernaut turned its arm toward him firing off the salvo. Sep tried to leap out of the way but got caught in the blast being thrown back against the wall. He still had a few milliseconds of consciousness and cast a special spell of his and other Tiefling's. His vision shifted to black and white for a split second as he focused on the core of the juggernaut and inflicted upon it a hellish rebuke caving in the core a bit before his back hit the wall. He fell to the floor and the Juggernaut stumbled back wondering where the sudden damage came from not seeing any weapon even fire in the general direction of it's core.

"Now." Rivet called over from the other side of the room to Ratchet. He tossed the Cryomine in the air before launching it right at the Juggernauts feet. When the grenade exploded, it coated the floor in a layer of ice causing the Juggernaut to slip and fall over onto its back with a massive crash. Rivet sprinted to line up her shot taking out her hammer sliding on the ice before swinging the juggernaut with it sending it skidding into the next room with the fuel cells. The Juggernaut however managed to ground its arms into the ground grinding to a stop just before it could hit the fuel cells. It lifted its head up to glare at the Lombaxes and they both internally cussed that the plan didn't go how they would have liked. 

Sep had managed to get back on his feet by this time and saw where the Juggernaut was and he had a prime opportunity. He stumbled into a sprint running in front of both Ratchet and Rivet staring at the furious glare the Juggernaut was giving him, He brought his wrench around dragging it on the floor where the ice was previously but had since thawed out. Aetherial energy built up on the path the wrench took before Sep swung upward sending a thunder wave forward towards the Juggernaut. The Juggernaut did not have time to react as it was pushed back by a miniature storm into the fuel cells. The momentum of the Juggernaut coupled with the electrical energy from the Thunder wave was enough to ignite the cells.

Each one burst into brilliant orange flames engulfing the Juggernaut in a blazing inferno. The others threw themselves to the sides of the doors before a second follow up explosion happened firing a humungous jet of fire out the doors scorching them black as the facility rumbled around them. They all huddled at the edge of the doors for what felt like eternity before it finally ended and the noise finally settled around the five of them. The only thing that could be heard now was the sizzling of metal getting the worst heat treatment ever as it glowed red hot with smoke floating upwards on a few of the hotter parts. Rivet was the first one to glance to the other side of the door. "You guys okay?" She called over. Ratchet was the one to answer "Just fine. Although, I think I have a few more stands of singed fur than usual." he answered. Rivet slumped in relief before looking into the next room over.

To say it looked like crap was an understatement as it looked like it was point blank to a nuke with every inch covered in soot and scorch marks and feeling like an oven just standing by the door way. Ratchet turned to look at Sep who was taking heavy breathes. "Hey, you good." He asked to him. Sep turned to look at him deadpan. "About the same as you." He said eliciting a chuckle from Ratchet who walked out to the front of the doorway meeting up with Rivet halfway. He then looked at the room that they had just burnt to a crisp. "Son of a bitch." He said genuinely shocked at the carnage they had done. he wouldn't be surprised if some of the fuel that went further through the facility got blown up through the pipes that no doubt connected down this far. Sep also came out to look at the carnage and was just as shocked as the others. The Juggernaut was reduced to nothing but slag barely recognizable as a machine, let alone a juggernaut specifically. 

Clank turned his head from Ratchets back, "I am sensing Large energy readings on the other side." He said snapping all of them out of there collective stupor. Sep could also feel it being just a little further ahead. He shook his head and took the lead, "Lets grab the Prism and go before the rest of the place potentially collapses in on us." He said and the other two followed suit suddenly realizing the possibility. It wasn't that they didn't think of it as it was more the last thing on there minds when the destruction was right in front of them. They hurried through past the generator and into the next room over which consisted of a heavy mechanical door sealed shut by gears and hydraulics.

Sep looked at it and tried to mentally figure out a way for them to open it thinking that there must be a lever or pressure plate they needed in order to open it but his thinking was interrupted as Ratchet approached what looked to be a large bolt sticking out of the ground that he only just now noticed. "This should be the easiest part of the whole journey." Rivet said moving to the very middle of the door with a semi circular panel built into it. Sep looked at the other two confused before looking at the other end of the room where there was another exposed bolt. "It's a bolt crank, use your wrench and turn it clockwise." Ratchet called out placing the teeth of his own wrench onto the bolt ready to turn. Rivet did the same with her hammer at the middle of the door. 
Sep looked to the unoccupied bolt and then to the wrench in his hand. It was an odd form of security but just add that to the list of the things this dimension had. He moved over to the bolt and firmly placed his wrench into the appropriate position.

"Okay, On my mark." Ratchet called out holding up three fingers the three of them glanced at waiting for him. He lowered one finger after the other and when the last one fell, he began turning the crank clockwise. It took a few revolutions and Rivet one mighty crank with her hammer before they all heard a collective click. The bolts in the floor retreated underneath said floor and the gears embedded into the wall began to rotate with the main door pushing itself forward by a foot with Hydraulics hissing. They moved upward and the door opened with a blinding blue light pouring out like a dam breach forcing all the Lombaxes to shield there eyes if only for a moment. 

Sep looked at the glow and let his eyes adjust and what he saw took his breath away. There it was. A perfect replica of the Phase gate Prism that had originally brought him here floating above the ground nearly as big as himself. He could feel the Aetherial energy pouring off of it almost rooting him to the spot in its awe inspiring glow. His hand drifted to the arsenal tool on his belt hoping it would work. He wasn't quite ready to leave this dimension just yet and he wasn't sure if touching it would trigger anything so this would be the next best option. He held his hand up with the arsenal tool and created an empty slot before holding it up to the prism where he activated it. The tool did exactly as it was supposed to and pulled the Prism into it's structure containing it and the blue glow disappearing allowing the others to blink away the bright spots in there eyes.

Sep turned around to the others and held up the arsenal tool now emitting vapors along where the lights were confirming that he had what they came for. "What do you say we get the fuck out of here." He said to the others who nodded not sure how long the facility would hold and so they could have a rest. It had been a long day.

Chapter Text

The crew of Lombaxes and robots have been traveling on there beat up freighter for a few days ever since there escapade underground. They mostly spent the first couple of days winding down from yet another near death experience as they were prone to have more often then anyone would consider healthy. It was when they got to the third day that they finally decided to do something regarding the Teleportation crystal in there literal pocket. To say that such a sentence was a surprise really wasn't considering what all three of them carry around on a regular basis making this run o the mill for them. 
They had cleared out the cargo bay of what little was in there in the first place to use as a makeshift lab so they could study the prism with an easy way to get rid of it should something go wrong. Although opening the cargo bay whilst in Hyperspace wasn't the best idea so they had briefly dropped out of it while they were studying it. It did make them vulnerable to threats but there was so little in the galactic void between galaxies that made it practically negligible.

All five of the ships crew were currently in the cargo bay staring at the Prism casting blue rays of Aetherial energy across the walls lighting up the dark interior. Even those not attuned to such a force could still feel it like electricity in the air only less zappy. It wasn't enough to make anyone's fur stand on end so they could all breath a sigh of relief at not needing to witness that comedic image-There dignity would still remain intact.
Clank was in the front taking in all the readings that he could being the literal caretaker of time that he was. This naturally made him the most qualified with Kit being his second. While she wasn't as in tune as her Grey counterpart, she was more or less a second set of eyes. The Lombaxes leaned and sat on the boxes respectively watching the two robots staring at the Prism well aware that they were doing something although it looked a tad creepy as they were standing perfectly still like they were in a trance. It felt that way for Sep and Rivet more so than Ratchet who was just sued to it having known his companion the longest of all of them.

Septimus was the most outspoken about his skepticism on there abilities. He wouldn't doubt that looking at something can yield results but how did they do it was his question more than anything. 
"So, we are sure they can tell us more about it just by looking at it." Sep asked to nobody in particular.
"Yes we are sure. Those two are crammed with more senses than ten people combined each." Ratchet answered while he was lounging on his respective crate like it was some form of holiday for him. Sep turned to look at the two robots and could still barely wrap his head around it. He had learned a bit more about how robotics in this realm worked but it was still staggering just how much they could cram into such a relatively small space. Rivet piped up to the other side of Sep.
"Something that I still don't understand is why were there Cragmites in that facility to begin with cause didn't they...ya know. Not come to this dimension at all?" She questioned looking towards Ratchet who surely had an answer to it.
Ratchet tilted his head this way and that thinking of how best to answer the question.

"Yeah, Clank and I asked that question ourselves and came to the conclusion that somehow however long ago, they must have intercepted some Lombax experiments which went catastrophically wrong and they ended up where they did. And you know the rest." He answered turning back to look at the two robots still in there trance like state. According to them, it would be best to shut down everything except there sensors for the duration of there scanning which meant that they wouldn't be able to talk to them until they were finished. 
"Well, at least it is one less problem to deal with." Rivet said pushing off her crate and walking around to get a better look at the Prism twisting her head this way and that taking it all in. She thanked her lucky stars that Nefarious never found this to cause who knows how much havoc on the universe. 

Just as she was admiring it, Both Clank and kit finally moved for the first time in fifteen minutes shaking there joints loose from being stuck in the one position for so long while also getting there systems rebooted.
With a shake of the head, Clank turned around to look at Ratchet and Sep while Kit did the same with Rivet. Ratchet hopped off of his crate to stand next to Sep."So What have you got for us Pal?" He asked.

"Well, for starters, even by my standards, the Phase Gate Prism as it is called is simply baffling." He said turning his head to look at the object in question. "Baffling in what way?" Rivet asked turning to look at him. 
"Baffling in that the Prism itself does not operate on the same laws of quantum mechanics that something like the Dimensionator does. It is something wholly unique to it and it alone." Clank said. Kit carried on for him.
"And at this current point in time, we don't have the proper equipment to discern how it could be used." Everyone around the room looked at the two robots slightly dejected that they would have to wait for the better part of a week to get an answer as to how the Prism worked.
Septimus on the other hand just stared at the Prism feeling it's Aetherial power pulse disrupting the ebb and flow of the space around it almost like...An idea formed in his mind.

"Clank." Sep called out.
"Yes Sep." He answered. Sep looked down at the robot before glancing at his mechanical limb grasping it. "I have an idea but I want to make sure of it. Could you run a quick...scan? I think the term is on a spell of mine?" He asked. Everyone looked at him skeptically wondering what he was thinking. 
"Are you thinking that your magic and the energy of the Prism are on the same Wavelength?" Kit asked putting a finger on her chin. Sep turned to look at her. "Not the exact terminology I am thinking of but close enough." He replied turning his head to Clank expectantly waiting for an answer. Clank shrugged his shoulders, "I don't see the harm in such a request." He said gesturing to Sep to perform one of his spells so the test could actually begin.
Sep raised his Prosthetic hand and focused on a simple spell. A simple flame burned on the tip of his finger like a Bunsen burner which he held for Clank to look at along with Kit. They both stared at it like they were the first people to discover fire and the possibilities it brought but what was really happening was they were running scans and comparing them with that of the Prism. Sure it wasn't a one to one comparison but if Sep's hunch was right then they may have an answer sooner than the better part of a week. He held it there for about a minute before the two robots jerked back into the realm of the living which Sep took as his queue to drop the spell. 

"So, results?" Sep asked folding his arms together. Clank looked back at him and then to his arm which he noticed had symbols burning on the tips of his fingers. He had a theory on what those were for but that could wait. "It seems that your magical energy is very similar to that of the Prism which if it is anything to go by, means that you should be able to theoretically at least have a favorable influence over it." Clank said while also glancing at Rivet moving behind Sep. "Yes, it should work similar to how one controls a regular device but I can imagine a lot more mental fortitude than most devices. At least you are not using Radiation to do it so you can put down the Geiger counter Rivet." Kit finished crossing her arms with a stern look behind Sep. He was confused for a moment until he heard a rapid clicking sound coming from beside him. He looked at Rivet standing next to him with a device in her hands pointing at Sep himself and it was going off like crazy.
The others just looked at her confused wondering why she would have one of those pointed at him. She looked back at each of them before dropping the device onto the top of a crate and putting her hands up in surrender. "I had a thought that his magic was like radiation in that it sticks to things and apparently, I was right." She said glancing back to the display of the Geiger counter.
Ratchet went to pick it up and observe the results himself and his eyes went as wide as dinner plates when he saw the figure. He wasn't the most well versed in Radiation but he knew like everyone else that the bigger the number, the more radiation you had and the amount on the device was staggering.

"Even though it is rude, what figure are we reading." Kit asked. Rivet looked back at her dropping her hands sucking in a breath. "Thirty-thousand Roentgens." She said and the faces of everybody that wasn't Sep went from confused to absolutely shocked at the revelation. The Lombaxes walked away from Sep putting distance between them and him as much as they could. Sep looked at them confused why they were avoiding him like the plague. "What is going here?" He asked looking at the Lombaxes specifically.
Kit was the one to break the silence. "Thirty-Thousand Roentgens is a figure that indicates that you should have enough radiation poisoning to flat out reduce your lifespan to a week if you are lucky. Along with other more gruesome side effects." She said before looking at the other Lombaxes who were hiding behind the crates now only peeking out enough to keep Sep in eyesight.
"If that is the case then why aren't all of us bedridden and halfway towards a corpse by now?" He asked unsure of how radiation worked but putting it together as he went. Ratchet and Rivet looked at each other noticing that they were still relatively healthy looking and Clank and Kit weren't showing any signs of deterioration even though they should even if they are a lot stronger than they look.

"I think it is more of a case that Sep isn't radioactive but rather, his magical signature is strong enough to be picked up by a Geiger counter. And he is also a very powerful conduit of magic if that figure means anything." Clank spoke up noticing no signs of any lethal radiation types. Only ones of the cosmic microwave background although it is interesting how the background radiation is focused so much on an individual such as them. He found it utterly fascinating which could not be said for the other two Organics currently hiding behind two crates like a pair of scared cats. Kit continued "Which means that he is perfectly safe to stand around." She said with the Lombaxes looking at each other not sure. "As in there is no need to hind behind those crates." She continued and they still looked anxious to move. Sep rolled his eyes well used to this kind of behavior from others as he pulled out the wrench he found planet side and channeled magic through it causing sparks to crackle along its teeth. "How about I give you two a proper taste of what Magic is like." He said hoisting the wrench onto his shoulder. Both Ratchet and Rivet immediately shot out from there hiding spot and stood ramrod straight in front of them like they were army recruits with Sep as the angry drill sergeant. "That's what I thought." He said dispelling what he would have done before stowing the over sized tool into his arsenal tool. 

"Okay, with that out of the way. Your saying that in theory I should be able to activate the Prism through my connection to this 'Cosmic Microwave Background'" Sep said turning to clank making air quotes at the last part of the sentence. That one sounded not like something specific to this realm but a multiversal constant throughout each reality. Guess the people from his home world never got to theorizing about it when he left. "If that is how you want to phrase it then yes." Clank answered stepping away from the Prism giving Sep to quite literally work his magic. Kit did the same.

Sep took a deep breath and walked up until he was a meter in front of the thing that brought him here in the first place albeit without the symbol of a wrench inscribed onto its surface like last time. He looked at it as it floated in front of him casting a blue light over everything its rays touched defiant to everything within its vicinity. He was half tempted to straight up touch it like he did before but didn't want to as it could send him somewhere else entirely putting him back at square one. The destination being unknown could be considerably worse than the one he found himself in which he considers lucky. But that could be changed on a whim if he could harness it. It wasn't an unheard of thing-harnessing aeons old artifacts for power-but how it was done always differed from story to story. Sometimes you needed to be of a certain character or a chosen one or have some form of device in which to control it. Sep had absolutely none of the above but instead, only a strong mind. He hoped that would be enough because otherwise he would be shit out of luck regardless. 
He took another deep breath and held out his hand letting it bask in the Aetherial rays of the Prism feeling the potential power it held. Perhaps he had to attune to it first before it could be used which was a common thing for magic items where he came from. He wasn't the most familiar with the process having had all of his inventions attuned to him from the get go but he could figure something out, he always did.

There was something that he inherently knew to do which all magic users knew to the point that if you didn't then you were an anomaly. He himself didn't know the first time he did it until he had Nimura explain it to him one time but once he understood, it came naturally. So he closed off all of his other senses like sight, hearing, smell and touch only letting his mind open up. It was a way to access the astral plane which coincidentally overflowed with magic and one could gleam so many things from it. He felt that same pull here in front of the Prism feeling the energy wash over him as he felt himself float around in a void with only the Prism ahead of him. With it, he could see so much about it, how it pulsed like a heartbeat and how it felt like a living thing breaching the astral sea. He mentally reached out projecting his own intent towards it. An intent of understanding. The Aetherial strands before him began to move erratically in the space between him and the Prism. He couldn't see them but he could feel them writhe and snap like agitated snakes as he saw further and further in discovering an understanding with the object. 
It didn't say anything to him but he could see in his minds eye strange symbols form before him circular in nature. What did they mean he thought as they were imprinted upon his mind. The pulses began to accelerate with the strands becoming more and more chaotic and the light ever more blinding before he was mentally thrown out of the vision. He felt his body go limp as his normal senses came back to him and he felt himself on the cold floor of the cargo bay once again with the Lombaxes standing over him. 

"Are you alright?" A concerned Ratchet and Rivet asked simultaneously. Sep rolled over onto his back to see there concerned faces staring down at him. That's funny, he hadn't seen that in anyone ever since...No he couldn't dwell on that as he needed to write something down lest he forget it and he would rather not wake up lying on the floor again. "I'm fine." Sep groaned as he lifted himself back onto his feet with the assistance of the two Lombaxes. "I just need pen and paper." He said once he was back on his feet. Kit immediately extended her arms with the two items in hand towards him which he took and went to a crate so he had a proper surface to write on. Wasting no time at all, he scribbled down the symbols he saw all encompassed by one larger series connecting them all together. It almost looked like alchemy to his eyes and the individual symbols bore a resemblance to the ones he used on the tips of his fingers in order to cast spells. The others crowded around the crate to see what he had just scribbled down and were just as confused as he was.
"Anybody here read Hieroglyphs or are we cooked?" Rivet questioned to no one in particular. The others looked at everyone else questioningly before turning to Sep as they all drew blanks. He instead looked more closely at it before looping back to the alchemy comparison along with the runes he inscribed on his fingers. He then looked at the others. "This bares more of a resemblance to Alchemy than it does Hieroglyphs. I don't suppose you guys have experience in that field?" He asked to the four in front of him. They all looked at the symbols again before looking back up drawing blanks. All except for Kit who tilted her head in thought. All of them looked to her being the odd one out. She came out of her thoughts for a moment to realize that the group was staring at her.
"I am not sure how much it lines up with your reality but if this is anything similar to Alchemy here then in theory it should line up." She said to questioning gazes. "In what way?" Rivet asked.

"In the way that the symbols used may be different, the underlying principle should be the same." She clarified. Sep nodded his head along to this as that was how physics generally worked. They were constant no matter where you went. That was of course until you started messing around with it. "So by that logic, we should be able to make a form of controller through alchemy?" Ratchet asked. The robots nodded there heads. "Okay, with that out of the way, here comes the million bolt question of...Can You do alchemy." Rivet said pointing a finger at Sep who stared at the drawings once again. While he wasn't a full on practitioner in alchemy, he knew the basics including the classic equivalent exchange rule. But given how this seemed to work, it should be simple and they wouldn't need to worry about the law of equivalent exchange as it is no simpler than flipping a switch. Albeit with a lot more mental power but in theory, he should be able to use the Prism the same way that he would when casting a spell. Thinking about it now, the symbols felt more like instructions on how to perform the ritual than anything else.
"Well, that works all fine and well, but what does each symbol mean exactly?" Ratchet asked. Clank took the piece of paper to examine it more closely before referencing what he knew about the practice which wasn't a lot with very few surviving records to the modern day but they were still around in Museums or the Holo net if you knew where to look. It took a bit but the more he looked at it, the more he could see a rule of thirds and the patterns were reminiscent of his time at the great clock. But that couldn't be, this Phase Gate Prism was supposed to transport people through space and not through time. But it was something nonetheless.

 "I think that the symbols are a representation of past, present and future." He said pointing it out to the others who once prompted with the idea, could see it as that concept lined up with the rule of thirds quite nicely. "But that concept applies to time and not space like Septimus' claims would suggest." He added. Rivet then took another look and thought of something. "Could it be that instead of past, present and future. Could it be where you have been, where you are and where you are going?" She asked and the robots eyes lit up. Sep's eyes also lit up recalling passages of Mages having to consciously think of where they are going very clearly less they end up in a wall or in the ground. "That could be the solution." Kit said taking the paper from Clank and pondering the thoughts with the image herself. Alchemists did like to work in rules of thirds and maybe that is more of a rule of the universe than local superstition. "Yes, I would concur with that idea Rivet." Kit said after looking over the image and placing it back on top of the crate. 
"OK so, to set things straight. I need to think of where I was, where I am and where I want to go in order to harness the power of the prism?" Sep questioned to the two robots. They both looked at each other before turning back to Sep nodding there heads in unison. Sep nodded his head in kind well aware of how magic was performed and whilst he wasn't given the know how to perform a spell like this exactly. Learning new things about the universe was the bread and butter of any magic user regardless of how they attained that power. But even then, he knew it shouldn't merely be that simple as to think of three things simultaneously but then again, magic was chaotic by its nature and spells were just chaos given focus so it could be that simple. There was really only one way to find out.

He planted his hands on the crate before looking at the Prism as it hovered there silently taunting him to take up the challenge. He looked at the others for a second before taking in a breath. "Stand back." He said resolute and all the others stood out of the way letting him pass so he had a clear line of sight with the Prism. Sep planted his feet in the middle of the room before raising his prosthetic hand towards the Prism once again with a clear goal in his mind.

He wasn't used to ritual casting like this but the fundamentals were the same. He had to give focus to chaos. Channel it in a certain way for the desired result. He shut down his other senses blocking out everything as much as he possibly could barely aware of anything outside of his immediate vicinity. He focused on the Prism and the Aetherial strands swirling around it like the water around a castle moat. He thought about where he was in the past-That endless expanse of space that he woke up in before being thrown into this realm. He thought about where he was standing now in this ship surrounded by two Lombaxes and two robots with empty crates and metal walls floating in the vast expanse of space. He felt something in the Aether pulse differently than before like a tumbler being pushed just right in a lock. He was making progress. Finally he thought of where he wanted to go. He didn't think of the future as that wasn't a physical location but a state that was yet to be. He wanted to go back to his reality but something told him that if he tried to do that then it would not work but there was another location that could work. Through his minds eye, he could see how the Prism connected to something from the past, something like...The Prism that brought him here. It looked like it was being pulled there by some unseen invisible force like it was trying to find its way back. 
With that, he had a future destination set-That edge of Everything-and he conjured it into his minds eye, remembering it as clearly as he could. Another pulse emitted from the Prism stronger this time and he could feel a release. The energy pooled in front of him and he could feel his senses forcibly given back to him pushing him back to reality. 

He sucked in a breath taking a few steps backward from the Prism with Ratchet and Rivet coming in to catch him before he fell. "Did it work?" Ratchet asked. As if to answer his question, the Prism increased in brightness before a rift in reality ripped open forming a doorway to that endless expanse of space that Sep saw. The edges of the gateway were like roiling storm clouds with Aetherial wisps rushing in like it was some whirlpool on the ocean. Sep stared into it with awe and how relatively simple that was and just how easy he could leave this realm if he wanted to. All it would take was a single footstep and he would be gone and potentially back to where he came from. He took a hesitant step forward reaching out as his journey was so tantalizingly close to its end...but he stopped himself.
It could come to an end right here and now and he could leave this reality. leave a place where he had found...friends. As much as he didn't exactly feel comfortable in the body of a Lombax, he found himself not wanting it to end, not yet at least. So he reached back into that Aetherial space and dispelled the rift that was once there. 

The entire room went silent without the turbulent Aetherial energy with the Prism still floating there waiting to be used again. He let loose a breath he wasn't aware he was holding before turning around and seeing...mixed responses. Rivet and Kit looked utterly gobsmacked that he would refuse an opportunity such as this whilst Ratchet and Clank had there arms crossed with a fond grin adorning there faces like an inside joke only they were aware of.

He brought his hand up pointing at each of them confused on the responses he was getting. More Ratchet than Rivet of course but that was besides the point. "I didn't do something wrong did I?" He asked glancing between all of them rapidly. Rivet was the first to answer. 
"Not necessarily wrong but confusing. You had an opportunity to head home right there on a silver platter than you can activate on command and you refused. I just...I don't...WHY?" She asked gesturing to the Mad man in question. Sep thought that a question like this could be hard to answer but it was rather easy for him. He just never got the chance to say these words to anybody well...ever. He took in a breath never having this opportunity to begin with feeling emotions he hadn't felt in years well up to the surface. "It's because......I genuinely want to hang out with you guys more. Growing up, I never got the chance to have friends and all those that I could call ended up kicking the bucket one way or another and you guys-" He looked at each of them in turn."-Have not only accepted me but...I feel like I could call you friends and I want to feel what that is like just a bit longer before I have to leave." He finished.

That wasn't the response that they were all expecting. They were expecting some ulterior motive beyond just friendship but regardless, it was something that they could very well sympathize with. Ratchet didn't really have friends either until he met Clank and started exploring the galaxy where he met a whole bunch of people he would call good friends. Rivet was the same way except that she didn't want to make connections because you never knew when you would lose someone on a mission and never get to talk to them again. She couldn't really say she was close with anyone in the Resistance until they finally defeated Nefarious and everybody started to finally relax enough to open up. Clank couldn't exactly sympathize as he always had a friend in Ratchet ever since he was built but there were moments where he wanted to hang out more but couldn't for one reason or another. Kit never even got the chance to make friends as she was supposed to be a soulless killing machine and friends would just get in the way of the mission so she never had one until she stopped doing that and ended up on Savali where she found a friend in Gary. 
It was an unexpected reason but it really was something that they could all very much Sympathize with to there very core having felt the same way themselves at one point or another. 

The room fell silent as they all silently pondered Septimus' request before Ratchet walked forward presenting himself as the Liaison between his group and Sep before placing his hands on his hips with a grin growing on his face. "Well, if that is the case then, What do you want to do first?" he asked.

Septimus' features noticeably brightened and lifted up at Ratchets words.

Chapter Text

The fist thing that Sep decided that he wanted to do was to actually try and beat the two Lombaxes at Super Smash Bots Brawl. He wasn't sure why but it had this certain competitive allure that the Tiefling turned Lombax hadn't felt in a long time. The others all helped to get him on his feet with a bit more success than the last time and they got him to the point where his game play didn't make them want to cringe at how bad it was. It was still sloppy most of the time but it became passable as he could actually get a few hits in instead of taking them all with no way to defend himself. 
He had even chosen a favorite character that he used any chance he got. A cyborg with a great sword that could become double bladed on a whim with fire effects. How fitting they thought. Right now he was using said character against Rivet in a one v one where she was also playing as a cyborg whose entire right arm probably weighed more than the rest of there body. Off to the side, Ratchet, Clank and Kit were cheering them on acting as running commentary on each successive blow. Rivet managed to get the first few hits in but Sep managed to slip away and onto another platform to avoid her barrage of thrusts and jabs.
He noticed that his character was more nimble than Rivets so he used that to his advantage opting for hit and run tactics instead of the full frontal assault that Rivet went with. He even managed to learn a few obscure button combinations which he made sure to memorize so he could find an opening where he could wipe the floor with his opponent. 

To which there were very few and far between as Rivet had an astonishing handle on her side of the arena probably built up from versing Ratchet all the time along with the other two so it would make sense that she would have a better handle on things. Instead of trying to get into her characters space where she would undoubtedly get a few free hits in, he did his best to wait out her attack strings where the game would add an immediate delay before the next punch could be thrown. That was his opening. Rivet was executing one of these attack strings while Sep had his guard up and just when she threw the last punch, Sep jumped upwards before executing an attack string of his own in a method they had referred to as button mashing. Apparently it was a technique that noobs used a lot but Sep wasn't deterred by such a term and instead used it as it still gave prominent results. He managed to roll just under Rivets next attack string and executed an uppercut with his sword in double bladed mode ripping up the backside of her character. She leaned forward on the chair suddenly much less relaxed than before as Sep actually got to a moment where he had her on the ropes and faced defeat. But she wasn't going to have it as she gripped her controller further adding into her controllers right side thanks to her own Prosthetic. 
Rivet went for an uppercut of her own but Sep managed to deflect the blow and send it right back at her pogo-ing off of her attack. They both landed back on the ground with there spectators going quiet enraptured by the duel on screen. Up to this point, Sep had lost all the duels and this one was the closest to victory he had earned and they were all about to possibly witness it. And Rivet was determined to push that possibility even further back.

Both characters landed on the base platform with the timer ticking down going into the last minute and both of the players sitting at ten percent and twenty percent health respectively. While this was all happening, they had both built up a gauge at the top of there characters health bars which would fuel there ultimate moves and they were both currently full. Rivet went to activate hers the moment that they hit the ground initiating a large windup which gave Sep ample time to get out of the way. The problem with her characters ultimate move was that it rooted them in place as a hailstorm of metallic fists rained down from the sky smiting anything and everyone that they came into contact with. Rivets face dropped as she executed the move and Sep moved to behind her character and activated his own ultimate which was a barrage of sword swipes which Rivet was powerless to stop. He managed to deplete her health all the way down to the final five percent and Sep could swear she heard her heart beating faster than his own which was also beating faster than it should. He felt the edge of his lips curl into a adrenaline fueled smirk as he just had to get the last few hits in and victory would be his. 
Rivet got out of the way before he could get in those last few blows and delivered a series of jabs and thrusts to his character knocking him down to one percent health.

Sep made the move to retreat using the platforms as cover as she went for an uppercut but it was parried again and the damage sent back at her. Rivet saw the writing on the wall and began an area of effect combo pounding the ground throwing up the terrain but Sep managed to dodge out of the way just before it could hit him. He followed up with a long range strike which clipped Rivets character on the back of the neck and the games screen slowed down as it executed the characters finishing move slicing Rivets character into a million pieces before posing for the character with the word VICTORY in big bold letters taking up the screen.

Rivet dropped her controller on the table in shock whilst everyone else yelled in celebration as Septimus finally managed to win a match against there current reigning champion. Rivet wanted to yell bloody murder at the guy but she repressed those feelings secretly proud that the guy actually managed to get a win. Once Ratchet had stopped shaking the guy and he regained his bearings, she presented her hand to him in a handshake.
"As much as I don't want to do this, It is only customary to do so, GG." She said. Sep looked at the hand confused with his high of victory subsiding. He turned to the others for explanation with Kit being the one to explain it. "It means 'Good Game'." She explained while motioning to Rivets outstretched hand. He glanced between her hand and face before accepting the handshake. "Good Game." He said. Once that was settled, Rivet grabbed the controller and held it out to Ratchet. "Your turn." She said. 
"Oh, are you finally tired of playing?" he asked sarcastically well aware of Rivets competitive attitude when it came to games, and high scores for that matter. Something he learned through managing to beat her high score at Zurkies slaughter Plex. It was a very rough night as she had run herself ragged until she finally reclaimed the top spot Ratchet had stolen.

"No, I want to see how well he can kick your ass and prove it was not a fluke." She said curling her lips into a sadistic grin. Ratchet glanced to Sep who shrugged his shoulders and gestured to the outstretched controller. He sighed in defeat. "Eh, Why the hell not." He said grabbing the controller from her grasp and taking her seat. "Best of three?" He asked Sep. "Hell yes." Sep replied with considerably more enthusiasm than they had seen from him since he got there.

For all of them, the eventual reign of Sep the Super smash Bots brawl champion was short lived and he was really more of a fifty fifty in terms of winning or not. But they eventually got bored of it even with a few very good matches every now and then but the first victory lost it's luster after a few more victories against everyone else. It got to a point where Sep allowed Ratchet and Rivet to have at it and the results were simply staggering as he watched both of them go at it without holding back resulting in some truly insane moves. He really couldn't comprehend how they were doing it and chalked it up to the two Lombaxes just being that much more experienced than him. It got to the point where Ratchet was on the ropes with Rivet absolutely drilling into him so many blows that he was what they called 'stun locked' into place as Rivet absolutely demolished his remaining health and the VICTORY text showed up in Rivets favor this time around. Ratchet slumped in defeat while Rivet fist pumped in triumph with Kit cheering her on.

Ratchet turned to look at her. "Ya know, I swear you use hacks to get victory sometimes." He said looking at her deadpan. Rivet stopped her victory lap to turn to her counterpart. "Or you could simply admit that I am better than you." She retorted.
"You know neither of us are ever going to admit that."
"Touche, but I can assure you that I won that match fair and square without hacks thank you very much. Your just worse than me. Admit it" Rivet said pointing the controller at Ratchet like it were a pistol.
Ratchet was about to respond but Sep bet him to it with a question. "Hacks?" he asked looking at the bickering Lombaxes curiously.
The two stopped there bickering to look at him in confusion before internally face palming forgetting that the guy was from the dark ages long before any of this stuff was ever an idea in someones head.

"Hacks in the digital sense are systematic attacks on a system for a variety of purposes such as destroying infrastructure, theft, spying and the list goes on but in this context. Hacking the game for ones own personal gain." Clank piped up to explain it before the Lombaxes could even think of how to explain hacking. But they did not need to as Clank had them covered.
Clanks explanation immediately got Sep's brain thinking of the numerous possibilities such a skill could provide. Granted, if he got sent back to his original home then he wouldn't need the skills in the first place but in the event that he ended up in another realm such as this then it could prove useful. The life of an adventurer such as himself was a dangerous one and crime was just a small part of it. He looked at the other two who even though they liked to approach combat guns blazing probably dabbled in it on occasion. By the sounds of things, they likely knew how it was done given how they helped him build his translator. 
His thought was that if you knew how something worked then you also knew how to break it and that was what hacking sounded like. 
"Don't suppose you guys know how to do proper hacking?" He asked. The Lombaxes looked at each other before shrugging and looking back to him. Rivet went first.

"I'm not a hacker, that was always phantoms role and I just used the equipment he gave us depending on the mission so I wouldn't have a clue." She explained. "Yeah, the most that I can do is get a diagnostic reading from a ships computer. It is really Clank and Kit who know more about that subject than either of us two combined." Ratchet added thumbing to himself and Rivet. The two robots looked at him well aware of where this line of thinking could go. They talk about an idea and have someone there who can get them started on the idea which would inevitably lead to wanting to put said idea into practice. 
"Forgive me if I am wrong but are you requesting that we teach you how to hack?" Kit asked not having talked that much today.

Sep reached for the back of his head and looked around at everything other than the people in front of him unsure if he was overstepping or not, he was still not used to having friends. He eventually turned his head back to face the solid green and blue eyes of the two robots patiently waiting for an answer. "I mean, if it is no issue to you guys." He eventually responded. "Oh, I would be most happy to. What is the point of information if not for it to be passed on." Clank said with Kit following suit and Sep couldn't help but think of Nimura as that was something that he also liked to say a lot. "Well, I am certainly interested to see how this goes so I think I will also join in." Kit said jumping down from her seat to stand next to her respective counterpart. 
"Alright then, what about you two?" Clank asked the Lombaxes who picked up there controllers. 
"Oh don't worry about us." Ratchet said staring at the screen intently. "I am going to beat Rivet here into the ground one way or another." He said selecting his character.
"No you are not, I am the one who is going to pound you into dust." Rivet retorted  selecting her character as well. Ratchet would have retorted but didn't as Sep could see just the faintest bit of red coating his muzzle. Sep looked down at the two bots before they began ushering him into the other room of the ship. "Ignore them while we help you out." Clank explained. "Yes, It is most unfavorable to see the aftermath of one of there sessions." Kit added on heading into one of the private quarters to grab the appropriate equipment while Sep internally questioned just what she meant by that.

The challenge was simple. Clank and Kit had set up a scenario for him on a laptop they had with them. They told him what file he was looking for and his job was to 'steal' it. A relatively simple challenge but it was always good to start with the basics before moving onto more complex methods. The two robots gave him the basics and simple tools to use to pull it off so as long as he followed there teachings then he would be able to do it no problem. They also brought up the legality involved with this line of work and how it is generally illegal throughout every industry unless it is for stress testing or for intelligence gathering.
He had his own computer and the file was on another one they scavenged from the ships cargo bay. Apparently the device was impounded along with the ship and slipped through until they got a hold of it but that also meant it was perfect for this.
The first step was actually getting into the system remotely.

Both devices were on and he had to first get onto the same network which wasn't hard as there was only one and that was connected to the ship which he was also connected to. The next step was finding the device on said network. Running a simple program that scrubbed the network for traffic returned with the only other device it could be. It was "Nefarious Laptop #3457891". Very on the nose he thought and was glad that he wound up here after the Lombaxes had overthrown this tyrannical ego maniacal emperor.
The next step was a bit more tricky and that was to actually get onto the device which required administrator access. One way he was told it could be done was through sending an email and waiting for the person on the other end to open it springing a trap but he couldn't rely on that so he had to have it happen automatically. He chose the method that would be the easiest for him to perform which was to remote in and work on it like it was his own device. He had to first take over the network itself which was easy enough as they had access to it from the get go upon claiming ownership of the ship. He gave himself Administrator privileges and connected to the other device on the network. He pictured it in his minds eye like tossing a rope between two buildings and climbing from one to the other. a crude analogy but a simple one. Typing a few more commands on the computer albeit very slowly not at all used to the keyboards layout which did not make sense in the slightest. All the characters were all over the place instead of where they would be if they followed the standard alphabet. There was probably a reason behind it but he didn't have time to think about that at the moment.

After typing in a few commands, he opened up another window which showed the other devices screen. Moving the mouse also moved the one on the other device. He was in. He went into the file system and hit the next roadblock which was where the specific file was. The two robots set up a whole bunch of dummy files to simulate what would be on a machine like this which made finding the right one like a needle in a haystack. He could go through each file one by one manually but that would take too long. Sep performed this under the assumption that he was doing it for real and had to do it as fast as possible. So another command to the rescue. He typed it into the console before setting it loose.
The command basically told the computer to do a search through each file simultaneously collecting data for him to review. It took about thirty seconds to go through everything before he got back a chart written in code telling him everything. He didn't know what file he was looking for but given this is the first time, the obvious one would be the odd one out or one that held a password. He looked through the data sheet the program created and found the file that reportedly had encryption and it was the only one on there that had it. He also made use of his universal translator to at least read what was on screen so he wasn't entirely out of the loop even if it did slow him down. He went to the file but when he tried to open it, it needed a password. He could do another search through the files hopefully finding it written down but the possibility was slim. He tried it anyway running the command again. Nothing.

With that, he had a simple prompt taunting him with a blank password box. Just for kicks, he typed in password as it was simple and easy to remember but doing so proved to be fruitless as he was denied. Of course it wouldn't be that simple. He thought about how he could get the password or possibly change it to something that he would know. He also thought that maybe Admin access could bypass the encryption entirely. He looked to the list of commands he had written down but none of them would bypass needing a password. 
He glanced upwards and could see the robots looking at the other screen with rapt attention as he slowly progressed and was seemingly at the final hurdle. He thought about how they would set it up and how they would do it. Know your enemy and all of that. He thought about what they were which was in simple terms a program inhabiting a metal shell. Programs were just lines of code that gave a result depending on what they were built to do. That also meant that maybe they had different versions...That's it. Maybe he could find an update log on the file which held password changes. It would be more prudent to delete the changes so a person couldn't access them in the future but this was a test environment so it would be made easier for him on purpose. 

He ran another command which he had listed which was to give update history as Kit sighted it was a simple way to detect changes but not necessarily what said changes were. He ran it on the file in question and got a very short list of changes but it didn't show the password that may have been used previously. Maybe it was something hidden in the back end and not on the front like what he was seeing now. He brought up the computers built in text tool and copied the program into it where he was greeted by the code used to build it. He looked through and found a line of code that seemed like gibberish but read something along the lines of "Only allow if this box matches this." And there he found the specific line that held the password. He wrote it down on another text document and closed the code editor before going back to the file. He went to open it again and was greeted with the same password box but he wasn't taunted by it this time. He input the password and was greeted with a small video which played automatically on start up. It was a stylized version of both of his robotic mentors faces moving to a small beat before there hands appeared in a thumbs up expression and the words "Good Job" showed up just beneath them.

Sep leaned back in his seat as he looked at the two robots who looked at him with smiles on there faces which still creep-ed him out a bit as the design of there jaws read to him that they couldn't do that. "Nicely done Septimus." Clank said with kit clapping along. "I would say that your methods of getting through the system were logically sound and well thought through." Kit said. "And you performed it in under ten minutes." Clank added. Sep still couldn't help but draw a connection to Nimura internally thinking that he would have got along extremely well with these two loveable robots.
"So what is the total verdict?" Sep asked. The two robots leaned in to whisper with one another with there backs turned to him for a solid minute thinking about his score. He waited anxiously despite knowing that this was probably nothing to a seasoned professional but he wanted to hear that he did a good job regardless. The two stopped there conversation and turned around to voice there verdict. 

"After some deliberation, we would give you a B+" Kit said holding her hands behind her back like a professor giving a lecture. "We would give you higher but there were certain ways that you could have gone about the hack that would have saved valuable time but we didn't teach them to you so we are giving you some leeway in that department. But as we have said before. You have a solid understanding of how these systems work in the short amount of time you have used them and you seem to have a knack for it." Clank followed up. 
The words filled Sep with a small sense of pride which he hadn't heard in a long time. Internally, he knew it was stupid but hearing those small words of Good job or any translation of it was something that he always liked which was why he stayed working alongside Nimura for as long as he did as he was always encouraging and gave compliments where they were warranted. It was a feeling that he really couldn't get enough of.

As he was swimming in those thoughts, The door to the room they were in hissed open as both the other Lombaxes came in with Rivet heading to the cockpit whilst Ratchet came to sit with them. "So who won in the end?" Kit asked as he sat down on the other side of the table.
"Rivet won only because I let her because I am a gentlemen like that." Ratchet said crossing his arms in a huff and turning around in his seat dramatically. The other three looked at him skeptically not buying that he would willingly let victory slide. Ratchet was too competitive for that. Him and Rivet both. "She kicked your ass, didn't she?" Sep asked deadpan. Ratchet eyed over towards Sep. "I have no idea what your talking about." He replied finding the paneled wall as interesting as a piece of fine art in an art gallery. "We will take that as a yes then." Clank said placing his hands on his hips well aware of how he was like better than anybody.
Ratchet glanced at all of them individually and back again suspiciously like they were all planning something secret and he was on to them but he relented and leaned his arms and face on the table in defeat. "Yep, you're right." he said with his voice muffled from being face down on the table which was quite the amusing image to the robots seeing the hero of multiple galaxies and more recently, dimensions be reduced to this.

Sep however was thinking of something else. He enjoyed the small little challenge they had set up for him but he couldn't help but want to try something a little bit more challenging. Because, what good were skills if you weren't testing them all the time then it would just be one off things that would fade over time. He would have to wait for that another time thought as they still had a bit to go before they reached there destination. 

Rivet came back from the other way she came still sporting a smug grin on her face taking a seat next to Ratchet. "Well, with everything going on, we should be arriving at our destination on schedule which is still two days." She said wrapping an arm around Ratchet. "OK good, because I am not sure how much longer I can stay cooped up in this flying brick." Ratchet responded with everyone nodding along sharing in the sentiment. Sure they had good company and good games but there was really only so much of that before you got bored of it on long haul trips such as this. Sep wanted to contribute something but he really didn't know what besides more training on the technological front but he had done enough of that and wanted to hang out with people he could call friends. It was what he requested after all.
"Don't suppose you have a TV show or two saved?" Kit asked to her robotic counterpart. Clank tilted his head back and thought about it probably going through his head for what he had saved. 

"If we are doing that then something other than Secret Agent Clank or Lance and Janice please?" Ratchet piped up knowing that was a personal favorite of Clanks mostly because he was the main star in it. "Wait, Secret Agent Clank?" Sep asked. Ratchet looked to him. "Yeah, Back in the day, Clank was asked to star in his own TV show and he accepted the deal...got a fair few seasons out of it too." He explained. He snapped himself out of the thoughts as he brought himself back to reality. "But we have personally re watched it enough and that can wait for another time." He hastily explained as he was sure that Clank was looking at the file holding all of the episodes. "And Lance and Janice?" Sep asked. 
"Extremely cheesy soap opera that gets way too convoluted too fast." Ratchet also explained.
"Well if that is the case then how about we display this on the big screen and let the guest of honor go through and choose for us." Clank suggested waving his hand in the direction of Sep. He looked at the others who agreed when he couldn't help but notice that Kit wasn't suggesting anything. "Don't you have a few shows saved or something?" He asked the yellow robot.

"Hehe...Unfortunately because of the state of my dimension. Any and all TV shows were state controlled and anything that wasn't state controlled has been long lost except on the oldest of hard drives which I don't have access to...sorry." She said apologetically as they would only have Clank to rely on for options. "No need to be sorry Kit, If anything, just add it to the reasons to hate Ego Dome." Rivet spoke up to lift her companions spirits which while not the most effective made the yellow robot stand just that little bit straighter. "Well, any objections to the plan then?" Ratchet asked.
Nobody argued and so they all filed out into the room they had been using for video games to watch something good. They all had to hope that Sep had taste in entertainment but nobody was going to say anything until he put that taste on full display for all of them. It was a good thing that Clank only held good shows on his hard drive...He did, Didn't he?

Chapter Text

It should have come as no surprise that Sep would be very interested in video media like movies and TV shows that the others were reconsidering the idea of introducing him to the very concept. Clank had some action series downloaded to offset the documentaries and soap operas that Clank was more interested in and he took to them with Gusto. He had chosen an action series that Ratchet had recommended under the simple synopsis of it was good.
While Sep would have preferred more information than that, He just decided to run with it with Rivet also inclined to do the same as both hers and Ratchets interests lined up somewhat. Especially when it came to entertainment. There were a few things that they disagreed with when it came to entertainment of course but overall, if one of them liked it then the other was sure to share the sentiment.

That also apparently applied to the not a Lombax that they had next to them who just ate up what was being shown having never seen it before in his life and wanting to waste a precious second. They even saw him break character and smile and laugh with what was on screen which they also couldn’t help but smile along with him. The series they were watching revolved around cyborgs and generally had this macho gung ho energy that was from a different decade entirely that was more focused on action and fun than anything else. It was a good first TV show for someone who had never seen one before in there opinion.

Clank had the feeling that judging by his personality, he would have been nitpicking a lot of what was on screen for not being true to life and what not but that wasn’t the case. He just ate up whatever was on screen which is all they did when watching this stuff anyways. It was a good way to unwind at the end of the day or after a life threatening adventure in there case.

The real nitpicker here turned out to be Rivet of all people when the latest character had been introduced and they revealed his back story, He had lost his leg in the great war and had to get a prosthetic in the middle of a battlefield and they didn’t have any anesthetic on hand.

"OK, I know that this is a dumb action show but that is a bit too far in my opinion.” Rivet spoke up. Sep sitting in the middle of the two Lombaxes turned his head to her to see what she was on about. Rivet noticed the turned and confused heads.
“I know that he is supposed to be a bad ass and all, but getting an implant without anesthetic and not passing out is just too much I am afraid.” She explained.

“I respectfully disagree.” Sep said drawing even more confusion. “Seriously?, what makes you say that you can undergo that process without anesthetic?” She asked.
“What is anesthetic?” Sep asked really making Rivet’s eyes shoot up in utter bewilderment as most other amputees she has come across over time not only know what it is but why it would be used. 
“Your kidding, Right?” She asked glancing past Sep and to Ratchet who looked just as confused as she did. They were both like that for a bit before Ratchet remembered something. He face palmed himself for forgetting such a simple yet crucial fact regarding there friend. “Pre-industrial times.” He explained. Rivet was confused for just a bit before it finally clicked that this guy was still an inter-dimensional traveler from a pre- industrial world. But her features went up when a realization hit her that was a very distinct possibility. She turned back to Sep. "OK, did you get your arm implanted without Anesthetic?” She asked.
Sep looked back at her deadpan-”We didn’t have any of this ‘Anesthetic’ where I was so I was awake for seventy percent of the process before passing out.” He said.

Everyone in the room who had the facial features raised them at the comment. Sure they were used to pain but not prolonged torture like what he had to endure. Ratchet looking at Sep from the back looked at the metal plates grafted onto his skin that helped to hold the prosthetic where it was. Hot metal on skin was excruciating for anyone and for someone to stay awake through it was something that he wasn’t sure even Rivet could top. Not that he would say it to her face though unless he wanted to lose his own in the process. The show had long since been paused as everyone was still shocked into silence at the nearly off hand comment. The first one to break from the trance was Kit who moved her head from one person to the other before making an executive decision. 
“I am going to check on the bridge.” She said getting off of the bench and making her way in that direction inadvertently bringing all of the others out of there stupor.

“Okay, regardless of how much of a Bad Ass you are, I am now genuinely curious how your arm is connected to the rest of you.” She spoke up wanting to get her head out of the thought spiral of just how much pain one would be in experiencing a surgery fully awake and conscious. Sep looked at the socket and made the move to remove his coat and tossing it over the back of the seat they were on. Rivet and Ratchet both looked at the front and back respectively having long since lost interest in the show endlessly curious about this guy. They could both see metal plates showing through the shirt which he had since cut the lower portion off of turning it into a makeshift crop top. 
It certainly did reveal new insights into the things construction but it didn’t reveal how it connected to the rest of his body being covered by the fabric. 

Rivet moved in to tug at the fabric surrounding the right shoulder but hesitated waiting for permission from Sep. He looked at the hand and then back to her face before letting her take a closer look. 
She saw a series of mechanical pistons, struts, and gears holding onto a metal plate connected to what had to have been his chest. She was utterly enraptured with it knowing the pains of building your own arm and also the difference in technologies on display here. It was so different to what she was used to that she couldn’t help but let her mind run a mile a minute.
She also couldn’t help but think that it must be painful with the configuration that he had. Sure he hid the pain really well or maybe he just didn’t feel it after so long but she couldn’t help but feel sympathy for her fellow amputee.

“Are you good there?” Sep asked at Rivets probing face. Ratchet leaned around to see the expression and immediately recognized it having experienced it himself. “Rivet, I know you love tinkering as much as I do but save it until we get back planet-side, would ya.” He said snapping Rivet out of her reverie.

She looked back to Sep who still held her under his confused gaze. “Oh, I am sorry, it is just that your current setup just looks painful and I can’t help but think of a way to make a better socket.” She said leaning as far back as her seating arrangement would allow while putting a hand behind her head. 

Sep looked away bashfully not having heard someone want to actually help him for a good while before this whole dimension hopping fiasco of his. He also couldn’t help but feel the truth behind her words because the current arrangement was very much not the most comfortable and he frequently had to make adjustments so it wasn’t pinching all the time. 
“You...could do that?” He asked looking back up at her. 
“Um, yeah of course. I know very well that an improperly tuned prosthetic is the worst. Plus that’s what friends do, They help each other when needed.” She said sporting one of her friendly smiles."OK, once we get...planet-side...Man that sounds weird to say, I will take you up on that offer.” Sep agreed extending his organic hand. Rivet looked back at it then to Sep's face and back before reciprocating the gesture. Once there hands had separated, Sep was silently screaming on how the hell he could repay her for such a gesture. He thought the same thing when Nimura gave him the offer but he couldn’t exactly return the favor but he could absolutely repay Rivet. It was the least he could do after-all. 

Suddenly the ship lurched forward rattling any object that wasn't nailed down before stopping. "I estimate that we will be arriving at Corson Five within the hour, make yourselves comfortable, Thank you." Kit called over the ship wide speaker system. Clank finally made movement after staying still for hours one end and Sep wasn't sure how he could do that outside of being a robot and all which he still barely understood. "Given the time frame before we arrive, are any of you interested in continuing the show at present." He asked. Ratchet was the first to respond. "I think I am good, I think I'll fly the ship into Corson airspace. Need to stretch my legs and all." He said walking to the bridge stretching out his limbs as he did so leaving Sep with Rivet and Clank. Rivet turned to Sep gesturing to the monitor prompting if he wanted to continue. He thought it over in his head and thought about the time that it took to watch a single episode and reckoned they could get a couple more in before they landed. He also thought that he really needed to get the files for it onto a hard drive of his own before he thought of leaving this dimension again.

He looked over to Clank. "You don't mind if we keep it running, do you?" he asked the metallic humanoid. "Not at all, I am quite accustomed to doing it when alone although I do prefer a good documentary myself but I do get a kick out of action every now and then." He performed one of his signature chuckles before collapsing in on himself to continue the playback. Sep really wanted to see where this plot line was going. 

Before Clank could begin the playback again, red lights blared coating the room in the color of blood as alarms started screaming. "Guys, get yourselves up here." Ratchet yelled from the bridge. The others wasted no time with Rivet picking up Clank on the way and carrying him to the bridge. They all stopped as Kit and Ratchet were in there respective seats. "What's going on, rogue asteroid, Space pirate?" Rivet asked frantically setting Clank down on one of the seats. "I don't think its either of those." He said as he pointed upwards and out of the bridge. Looking up, they could see an old Imperial prison ship repainted to have purple markings instead of the signature orange looming over them blocking the local star's light from reaching them. A light on the console began beeping. "They are...hailing us?" Kit said looking at the blinking light. Rivet walked up and pressed the appropriate button.
"Greetings SQUISHIES, We come in peace. By peace, we mean we have chosen not to shoot you on sight." An over exuberant voice of a Nefarious trooper said through the intercom. "We will be taking your ship and enslaving you to ETERNAL servitude for the New Nefarious Empire in honor of his highness EMPEROR NEFARIOUS. We will be boarding in five minutes. Please place any baggage and or belongings in the airlock to jettison it before we embark. We thank you for your patience." They finished before the line went dead.

Everyone in the room looked at each other not at all impressed with Sep just being more or less confused but could peace together what was going on. He also couldn't help but think of similar events that happened to him long ago that are forever burned into his Psyche and decided that as long as the plan involved violence of the brutal variety then he was in on whatever harebrained scheme these guys had.
"We're gonna blast them apart, aren't we." Kit spoke up.
"Oh absolutely."
"Totally."
"Like that is even a question."
"It is an obligation."
They all said one after the other.
"Well, they are giving us five minutes so lets get ready." Rivet spoke up grinning at the chance to rip and tear her way through robots with reckless abandon and not do desk work. She picked up Kit who held her arm up and swiftly placed her onto her back before walking out of the bridge. Ratchet and Clank did the same thing whilst Sep just simply followed. He made sure he had his great sword at the ready while arming his shotgun which he had managed to upgrade in between viewing sessions. He needed another test run of it.

With the ship caught in a tractor beam, Team Lombax didn't have a choice in the matter of being boarded as this ship didn't have the power necessary to break out of the tractor beams hold. Not that they wanted it to anyway's. They wanted to blast the ship taking them into Kingdom come. The ship floated into the hangar bay with the landing gear extending automatically settling down on the hangars floor where a contingent of Nefarious troopers were waiting for the loading ramp to lower itself so they could exact justice upon the interlopers inside.
They waited a few more moments with weapons at the ready non lethal to anything made of metal, not so much for SQUISHIES. With a hiss, the boarding ramp lowered itself with steam from the hydraulics emitting clouds of steam obscuring the entryway. The white and purple troopers aimed there weapons. "Come out with your hands up Interlopers!" The trooper at the front said as the steam dissipated to reveal...nothing. The trooper glanced to his compatriots to make sure and sure enough, they were all seeing the same thing. The commanding trooper made a gesture with its arm. "Search it." They said. Two of the troopers walked up the ramp with there spindly octopus like legs making dents in the floor as they entered the ship proper. It was dark with the lights turned off with only essential things like the door control panel being lit up but nothing else. The troopers activated there individual headlamps and scanned from left to right searching for anything out of the ordinary but it mostly contained empty crates. It wasn't until the light glanced over the hallway that something stuck out. Switching to Infrared, they found a heat signature and shined there lights on a periwinkle Lombax with a rocket launcher mounted on there shoulder. "Hi!" They said with a oh too sweet smile on there face.

Before the troopers even had a chance to react, the cargo bay they were standing in turned to a shooting gallery as a rocket fired down the hallway towards them blasting them to smithereens before they knew what happened. "Engage lethal ordinance." The lead trooper shrieked to his team as gun shots rang out from the darkened cargo bay striking each of them before they got a chance to raise there weapons. The Lombaxes ran out guns blazing blasting any troopers they saw into oblivion clearing the deck in less than a minute. "Alright, lets get to the bridge and take control from there." Rivet said to the boys who nodded in response letting her take the lead being the most familiar with Nefarious ship design.
Alarms blared all throughout the hallway they found themselves in with troopers getting over the initial shock of a small uprising on there ship. Rivet pulled ahead taking out her hammer and began to smash her way through whatever machine was stupid enough to block her path. Septimus took up a similar role with his Great sword extending it to full length and began cleaving through himself. Ratchet and Clank took up the rear making sure that no trooper flanked them from behind. The enforcer here made quick work of them taking out large swathes of enemies with its large area of effect.

Sep made use of the constant gun switching that the other two were prone to do themselves frequently switching between the Great sword and his shotgun. He cleaved those in his immediate vicinity in half before switching to take out those at medium range and those that would otherwise overwhelm the others. 
Rivet was going absolutely wild swinging her hammer so hard that she frequently sent one trooper flying into another out of the sheer force of the blow. Anything else that got sent her way was ripped apart which she seemed to take murderous glee in. 
Ratchet spent his time getting in close and flipping up and over any and all attacks whilst firing bullets at them non stop with Clank on his back telling him where enemies were. 
This was there routine as they made there way down the main hallway until they hit the final door with one trooper pulling back trying to open the door to escape the proverbial demons running towards him menacingly. He whimpered as all he got was a well placed sniper shot straight through his purple dome. Shortly after, the door hissed open as a calmer hand activated the panel. 
The door opened and the team saw several floors lined with prison cells loaded with prisoners who didn't even look like proper criminals. There were a few obviously but majority of them looked like blue collar workers. Typical Rivet thought.

The moment they stepped in, the first few prisoners they walked by glanced up and saw there saviors getting off the floor and putting themselves up towards the bar. They could all hear the hushed whispers. *Is that the Lombax?, What are they doing here?, Are they here to save us?, Whose the other guy, is he with them?* Rivet confidently marched to the center of the room to address everybody. "Everyone in this room, you are now under custody of the new galactic confederation. We will make sure that you are returned to your homes in due time and any transgressions you may have had against the previous empire are null and void." She said having had the speech prepared in the even something like this happened. Her small announcement was met with cheers from everybody in the prison cells as the group continued through to the other side on there way to the bridge. When they were halfway, another contingent of guards flooded out. The ones in front glared with a burning hatred programmed into them from construction as they saw the ones that felled there glorious emperor. "KILL THE INTERLOPERS!" The one in front screeched and they all opened fire. 

Ratchet propped up his void reactor letting the bolts of energy be caught in it's shield as it slowly transitioned from blue to a bright pink. He let go of the trigger and sent the bolts flying. "I think this prison could use some new management, what about you guys?" He questioned to his fellow Lombaxes who just leaped into the proverbial fire with as much vigor as they did before. Sep switched to his own shotgun getting point blank before sending a crap load of shrapnel into the trooper immediately in front of him with the shrapnel blasting into the troops behind them. Rivet tossed her hammer knocking down all those in it's path before returning to her grasp as she switched to her laser pistol and began firing away. with the potshot from Ratchet, they quickly dispatched the guards and made a move toward the now open door. Before they could however, the door slammed shut and several mechanisms could be heard as it sealed itself. "Damn." Rivet vocalized her thoughts into the Aether. "Hold on, lets see if Clank can handle this." Ratchet said as he turned his back to the control panel and let his Pal get to work. 
Sep eyed him warily. "How long do you think this should take?" he questioned wary of more guards approaching from some unseen hallway they were not privy too. "Shouldn't be more than a minute." He responded.
"Oh good, I don't want to be on one of these ships longer than necessary." Kit said. 

"You and us both Lombaxes, especially with that assistant now in charge." A former Vroom goon said from the cell right next to them. Rivet and kits ears perked up and she turned to the prisoner in question. "What do you mean *Assistant*?" Rivet asked only thinking of one that could possibly fit the title that they had been trying to track down for some time now. "Would that explain why these troops are purple and not orange?" Sep asked keeping his gun raised at even the slightest of sounds that could be hostile in nature.
Rivet shared a glance with Ratchet being the only other one who knew what the guy was insinuating and he seemed to be on the same page. She was about to speak up but the main monitor in the center of the room lit up beating her too it. 

"What is going on down there, the problem should be-" A small white and purple robot appeared on the monitor which Everyone except Sep recognized as F-44 or as everyone knew her as, The Emperors assistant. "YOU!" She screeched into the microphone as she layed eyes on her now greatest enemies. "What are you filthy Space Rats doing here. You should be burning in the heart of a star for all you've done." She spat into the mic. Sep did not know who this robot was but immediately did not like them one bit which seemed to be a sentiment everyone in the room shared. Dictators were the absolute worst.
"All we've done? All we did was overthrow a tyrannical dictator who made it his personal mission to make everyone and everything's lives miserable all for the sake of his ego." Rivet spat feeling the struggle of so many years of fighting well up to the surface as her work wasn't quite done yet.

"I will admit that it was getting tiresome being the emperors assistant for the longest time but now that he is out of the picture, It is only fitting that someone else should take the reigns. I am no longer ANYBODIES ASSISTANT. I AM THE NEW EMPRESS OF THIS GALAXY AND YOU ARE GOING TO SPEND THE REST OF YOUR EXISTENCE AS MY NEW TROPHY PELT YOU SPACE RATS. Welcome to Zordooms successor...*Rivet*." They said seething with venom at Rivets name before turning off the monitor. "Friend of yours?" Sep asked the other two. "That is putting it mildly." Rivet said turning back to ratchet with Clank still working on the door. "We need to get to the bridge now and fast." She said as Clank spoke up with a *Got it* before the door hissed open revealing a new series of hallways that would become there new gauntlet. Ratchet stepped to the side like he was a Door man at a fancy hotel before dramatically gesturing to the hallway ahead. "After you Madam." He said putting on the most posh accent he possibly could honed from a slew of parties with rich people orchestrated by Qwark because of course.

Clank and Kit chuckled at Ratchet being a gentlemen moments after being threatened. Rivet took it in stride rolling her eyes fondly. "Why thank you sir." She said doing her best posh accent in concordance with what he did. Sep walked up not sure what to think of acting like this in the heat of battle where surely his nerves were firing a million miles a minute. "Ladies first." Ratchet spoke up as Sep came within arms reach of him. Sep stopped before the threshold of the door and just looked at the doorman admitting that he had the right manners but just needed the right dress. But also, he was an honorable man and the ladies did go first after all. "Then get moving." Sep said grabbing Ratchet by the shoulder and playfully shoving him through the door being the last one through. Rivet watched the entire exchange before breaking into laughter at the absurdity of what she just watched. Ratchet just turned to Sep with a betrayed look while Clank laughed along with the girls. "Traitor." Was all Ratchet said as he pulled out his gun and started jogging to keep up with Rivet and Sep following suit.

The group eventually broke out into a full on sprint with Rivet leading the way knowing the layouts of one of these ships the best of course. As they ran, the doors on either side of them were being closed just before they would have had a chance to run down them. It didn't take a genius to tell that they were being boxed in and being led somewhere. While Sep himself wasn't too bad in close quarters combat, he would rather avoid it when possible but given that there host was pushing them somewhere, they would just have to deal with it. "Don't suppose we can get manual control over the doors?" Sep yelled up ahead. "For that, we are going to need to get to the bridge and if we are being funneled where I think we are being funneled then that should workout for us." Rivet yelled back as they turned at an intersection that opened up into a large atrium where they all skidded to a halt.
The room they entered looked to be the barracks of the ship with a small platoon of Nefarious troopers of all varieties with all there weapons trained exclusively on them. They didn't fire at first as a monitor flickered to life on the large main pillar in the center of the room. The image of F-44 appeared again. "I will admit that the guards of Zordoom prison were lacking in many ways. But rest assured that these ones will be a far greater challenge. Guards, EXECUTE THE LOMBAXES!" F-44 yelled into the Mic before it flickered off as the guards fired the first few shots.

The Lombaxes kicked themselves into gear going into different directions so they could thin the heard much better. Rivet went to the left while Ratchet took the middle and Sep veered off to the right.
Following the mentality of when they were on Savali, Sep maintained a wide berth firing off shots with his rifle before switching to the shotgun which eviscerated the robotic troops with ease. He checked his ammo noticing that it was getting low so he stashed it away and drew both his sword and the Omniwrench he recovered from the ruined lombax facility. He ran head first into the thick of it sliding between the legs of the first trooper before thrusting upwards with his sword extending it striking into its chassis from below. The blade caught on the chassis so Sep decided to throw it at the enemy ahead destroying them as well. A trooper with massive wrecking balls for fists went to crush him from overhead but was stopped as Sep raised the Omniwrench catching one of the arms between it's teeth. He twisted yanking the trooper to the side before he cut upward severing the arms with his sword before ending it for good. A series of blaster bolts fired at him from behind but he swiftly evaded them the same way the other two would. By leaping out of the way. He jumped to the side switching weapons mid air aiming his Enforcer at the troopers pulling the trigger letting out a massive burst of lead and shrapnel.

Over yonder, Rivet went in guns blazing or discs spinning depending on who you asked. She deployed the buzz blades letting them carve massive gauges out of her opponents and severing vital appendages. She made sure to give this weapon a wide spread before switching to her rocket launcher jumping into the air before firing eliminating large swathes of enemies in a single blow. There was one weapon that she wanted to use but couldn't as she didn't want to hurt either Ratchet or Sep in the ensuing crossfire. So she stuck to the 'safe' stuff. Safe for her but not for anyone else. After a few well placed shots with her rocket, a few stragglers managed to get into close quarters range. She pulled out her hammer and went berserk swinging it this way and that bashing metal frames into no more than scrap metal and even knocking some heads like a golfer at the driving range. Oh how she missed this type of work. She was almost too caught up in the moment as Kit yelled, "Sniper, 7 o'clock." Rivet turned in the direction and saw one of those massive circular sniper bots charging up a shot. Eliminating the last few enemies in the immediate vicinity, she stowed away her hammer and switched to the head hunter. She jumped over top of a trooper that managed to close the distance using them as a springboard before lining up the shot on the small dome at the top of the robot. She fired and it landed bringing the machine down to the floor. She blew the smoke off from the barrel after she landed admiring her handiwork...before immediately getting back to it fending off what remained.

Ratchet went on his assault with the black hole storm revving up the barrels before mowing down the competition in one glorious stream of bullets. A few of the smaller enemies that got hit became small vortex's of there own detonating on the spot killing a few of there comrades. The barrels began to glow red from over heating and Ratchet switched to the Ricochet firing out a single pod that struck the target before bouncing a them repeatedly and moving on to whatever unfortunate bastard was close by. He made sure to jump through all the attacks coming his way of course before switching to his own Omniwrench as the crowd began to pile up on him. He gripped the Wrench with both hands performing one massive horizontal swing performing a full three-sixty obliterating the troopers as they were flung out at the angle they were hit. He switched to the Shatter bomb glove flourishing a bomb into existence before tossing it up in the air and whacking it with his Wrench towards the crowd of oncoming troopers. The grenade itself somehow missed all of them and went into the middle...which held a misplaced fuel cell. The grenade struck that instead adding even more force to the blast radius than intended. Glancing upward, there were two more of those massive snipers at the end of the room. Ratchet pulled out The Migraine and popped the one immediately in front of him before turning to the one on the right. He was about to pull the trigger when three scorching ray's blasted through the head and the Repulsors keeping it aloft.
Looking to his right, Ratchet saw Sep holding his own personal handgun with a glowing rune on the smoking barrel standing on top of his own small pile of metal corpses.

"Nice shot!" Ratchet called over as he and Sep were done with there sides of the room. Rivet on the other hand was hammering away at one final trooper relentlessly like he was a whack a mole machine before finally ending it with a clean and swift uppercut. 
The trooper fell and Rivet stood there looking like a wild animal ready to defend her territory. She was heaving heavily before finally slowing down and looking at the other two who were more than concerned. She managed to snap out of it stowing away her weapon and dropping to the floor of the large atrium. "Sorry about that, I just loooovvvve smashing robot faces in." She said with a toothy grin showing her fangs further adding to that manic energy of hers. The boys just stared at her very concerned about her mental health but just simply turned towards the door that the small robot contingency had been coming out of.
"How about we end this little escapade, shall we." Ratchet said thumbing towards the door. Rivet glanced up at it and got her senses back in check. "Yeah, agreed." She jumped down to the floor. "I can finish my rampage back at Zurkies." She finished as she broke out into a jog which the rest of the team followed suit letting her lead the way.

"How many hallways can a single ship HAVE." Sep groaned out as they made another turn. "You think this is bad, you should see a capital ship, its like a flying city on those things." Ratchet called back. Clank would have made a um actually comment but refrained as the comparison was very spot on. Rivet pointed forwards "That door way should lead us directly to the bridge." She yelled and they all broke into a sprint with the end in sight but before they could enter it, it slammed shut cutting them off. "Oh Dear." Clank spoke up looking around for any dangers with kit doing the same. "You said it Pal." Ratchet said glancing around. Above one of the corridors thresholds, a monitor blinked to life revealing the robot F-44 again. "Of course, recycled drones can't do there tasks properly, never mind, I have something that will for sure eradicate you Lombaxes from the galaxy. hehehehehHAHAHAHAHHAHAAHAAAAAAAA." F-44 cackled as the door below that monitor hissed opening slowly with the monitor itself going dark. They all waited with weapons drawn ready to face whatever threat was behind the doors.

They opened all the way into a pitch black hallway revealing nothing. They all looked at each other in confusion wondering if this was supposed to be some reverse Psychology bullshit. "Maybe...the're out for lunch?" Ratchet questioned and was going to be reprimanded for Robots not needing food but the reprimanding would have to wait as they heard heavy footfalls coming down the hallway. They echoed down the hallway like a hammer to anvil sending vibrations throughout the interior of the ship. Sep being the only one mostly barefoot could feel each footfall through the floor getting stronger and stronger as the seconds droned on. "Just what could we expect to face?" He questioned the other two. Kit was the one to reply. "I don't know, But I have a bad feeling about this." She said. Why did it feel so familiar to her she wondered peeking over Rivet's shoulder to get a better look. The thumping stopped and they all looked down the hallway. Even though the lights were off where they were, they could still barely make out a large hulking silhouette bigger than a Juggernaut. It's eyes turned on emitting a deep crimson glow from a head that seemed too small for its body and tucked away into the neck. "Is...that-" Ratchet questioned before glancing over to Rivet who began to visibly shake in fear. The components in her prosthetic arm began to rattle with how tightly she was holding her gun and Kit's expression was so shocked that he quickly pieced together exactly what that thing was and it wasn't one any of them wanted to go up against. Yet there it was. Another similar model that was so very rare to find on the battlefield that any soldier feared. The only reason Ratchet knew what it was without needing to ask was because he was almost shot by another one before it pulled back.
The machine bathed in pitch black raised its ginormous gauntlets popping out twin wrist mounted cannons that charged up. They were Kit's guns.

"TAKE COVER!" Septimus being the only one not in shock yelled grabbing Rivet who he was closer to and throwing her into another corridor with ratchet following suit as charged Ion blasts rocketed down the hallway illuminating it in a harsh blue. They let the barrage fire as they took stock. "Kit, is there any way to eliminate that Unit?" Clank asked as Ratchet cycled through his inventory. "Outside of an atomic warhead, nothing can stop it." Kit said solemnly knowing exactly what that things capabilities were. She couldn't even think of where the hell F-44 found them when they were so rare. She knew that the empire had multiple made but she herself never met another one and by the looks of things, this one never received the epiphany she did the night she found Rivet for the first time. The barrage had stopped and the stomping began once again coming towards them. 
"Well, whatever it is, we need to get rid of it." Sep spoke up looking anywhere and everywhere as he was thinking of how they could get rid of this new threat. He wasn't a stranger to fighting things multiple times his size but one with this much power wasn't what he had in mind. "And we need to run!" Ratchet said pulling back from glancing around the corner directing the others to begin running the way they just came. 

The titanic machine skidded to a halt staring down there hallway before running towards them quickly gaining on them even while they were in a full out panic induced sprint. Rivet looked back a split second and couldn't help but note the resemblance to the friend on her back although this one was painted white and purple and not yellow and black. That was when an idea formed. She wasn't sure it would outright destroy the thing but it would at least buy them time to think of a way out. "Kit, could you hold them off long enough for us to think of something?" She yelled over her shoulder as more and more blaster shots careened down the hallway with everyone dodging this way and that to avoid being cooked alive. "Just give the word." Kit said with determination, although she didn't enjoy fighting, she wasn't above fighting to save those she cared about. "Do it!" Rivet yelled looking down the hallway in case she seized up. Regardless of how many times they had done it at this point, something about seeing that form always sparked a primal fear that she could not let go away and couldn't risk it.

Kit popped off the harness on Rivets back and let the others run ahead of her. Sep reached back to help but was pulled along by Ratchet sensing the idea coming to fruition. "Don't worry, she's got this." Ratchet said as they continued running changing to another perpendicular tunnel. Kit Closed her eyes where she stood with the hulking robot running down the hallway towards her. Her limbs collapsed into her frame dropping her to the ground as the titan ran over top unconcerned with a robot as small as that. The titan grinded to a stop grabbing onto the door frame to stop itself from going any further and glanced down to see four targets running away from it. It locked its targeting array onto them before raising its gauntlets to fulfill the mission. The cannons revved up but before they could be fired. A massive force struck the titan in the side sending it hurtling to the ground tumbling over itself multiple times before grinding to a stop. Raising itself up onto its elbows, it looked at what hit it and found another version of itself staring it down. A yellow and Orange variant with Blue eyes staring it down. "You will not hurt any of them." Kit said pounding one fist into the other before barreling down the hallway to mitigate the threat.

"OK any idea's?" Rivet asked catching her breath hearing the sounds of steel bashing steel further down the hall wondering how the fuck the emperors assistant got her hands on another Kit. 
"Don't suppose we could kill the master and let it drop?" Sep suggested comparing the scenario to that of a necromancer and the dead it rose to serve as lackeys. In that instance, just kill the master and the rest of your problems were dealt with. "No, all robots are autonomous and do not require a master in order to function." Clank informed as Ratchet was also panting like hell. "And no amount of firepower is getting through capital ship grade Armour." Rivet tossed into the conversation having asked Kit about it one uneventful afternoon. That one little detail explained a lot of things. "We could throw them into the ships main reactor?" Ratchet suggested before immediately taking it back "Wait, no, nope, that would probably take the rest of the ship with it." He turned to the other two still trying to think of something that could help in this situation. Sep looked all around the corridor trying to think of something before noticing the mechanism used for opening and closing they all seemed to use. Hydraulics. They were very simple but very powerful when given enough energy, hell it was the main thing that he used in his own prosthetic for crying out loud. "Could we maybe crush it in between the doorways or at least get rid of a limb or two." He threw out to the others. Rivet thought about it but couldn't help but think of F-44 and how she was in command of it. "It could work but I wouldn't be surprised if F-44 just opened the doors remotely just to spite us." She said glancing around at the top of each corridors threshold certain that there is probably a camera watching them right at this instant.

"How about we jettison the excess cargo?" Clank piped up from Ratchets back. Ratchet looked all around in fear of what that specific phrase brought them before but was relieved that it did not happen. "Don't scare me like that pal." Ratchet scolded elbowing Clank as best he could. "I am not trying to scare you, I am serious." Clank reaffirmed looking at Ratchet over his shoulder subconsciously listening to the brawl happening a few corridors down from them. "What is Bolts saying?" Rivet questioned while Ratchet was thinking before it finally clicked. The last two times they ever suggested that, they were both tossed out of the respective ships-He was never letting Aphelion live that down-but if it wasn't them but instead the Kit doppelganger. "Are you saying we throw them out the airlock?" Ratchet turned a sly grin to Clank who just nodded. "Simple but effective. And we can probably hijack a turbo laser to finish the job." He finished. Ratchet and Rivet looked at each other and silently agreed that it was probably the best way they could deal with it. Sep glanced between the two unaware of what an Airlock was. "OK, can someone inform me what an Airlock is please?" He asked. 
"In short, a door connecting the outside of the ship to the vacuum of space. If we open that then the air inside will rush out to fill the vacumn...which should be enough to get that titan off the ship." She explained as a mischievous smile began to make itself known on her face. Oh how she loved a simple plan with disastrous consequences for her opponent. Sep thought about it for a moment and he couldn't see a fault in the logic other than the size of the hole. But if the exterior door was as big as the ones they had encountered on the ship then it wouldn't matter. He looked at Rivet who knew the layout best and likely knew the closest airlock. "lead the way." He said.

Kit was currently locked into a boxing match with her doppelganger throwing whatever moves she could aiming for the closest match to weak points she could. The most they did was slow them down but never outright incapacitate and she couldn't keep it up forever. The doppelganger aimed one of its guns at her only to have it incapacitated with kit uppercutting the gauntlet pulling it forward before Kicking into its chest throwing it back to the ground. She briefly looked over herself and could see that the doppelganger had put more dents and scratches into her than all of her sorties in the nae of the emperor ever did. "Kit, you there?" Rivets voiced came through on her comm link. "Yes, I am here Rivet." She replied keeping an eye on her opponent who was getting back to its feet. "Alright, we need you to get to the starboard airlock. We are waiting there to throw him out." Rivet continued. Kit immediately got the idea and pinpointed which direction starboard was. "On my way." She informed before running down the halls to the destination in question.
The doppelganger Titan eventually got back on its feet and began to chase down the target increasing the sensor range to figure out where it went followed by information it's master was feeding it through ship surveillance footage. It followed an internal map of the prison ship finding that the traitor was progressing to the starboard side of the ship. It skidded to a halt as it saw the Traitor very far down the hall out of effective range of the arm cannons. It would not fail in its duty to serve its Empress. So it stood still leaning forward igniting the engines on its back letting them rev up emitting jets of fire before pushing off the ground and rocketing forward as the Traitor tried to outrun its inevitable demise.

"You ready?" Rivet questioned Clank as he was standing waiting to pull the emergency lever connecting the airlock to the outside vacuum of space. Ratchet was on the other side of the corridor with his gun raised in case something went wrong in the plan. Sep was doing the same but instead had a spell lined up which probably wouldn't do much would still at least hurt. "How much longer." He asked before he saw a massive yellow robot sprinting down the corridor towards them and he wondered how the fuck Rivet was carrying the little bot on her back without breaking a sweat this whole time. "Get ready!" Ratchet called over as Rivet and Clank held there breath as there friend Barreled towards them. Rivet was grinning thinking that this plan would go off without a hitch but of course, it had to fail at the last hurdle as the doppelganger was flying down the corridor on rocket boosters and delivered one massive blow to the back of Kits head. The yellow robot immediately lost consciousness retracting down into her more compact form and was thrown forward across the remainder of the Corridor slamming into the airlock door. The doppelganger angled itself forward using the thrusters on the bottom of its feet to slow down grinding on the steel floor.

The Lombaxes were stunned looking at Kit lying still against the door having never seen anything knock them out that easily before. Rivet tore her gaze away from Kit for a moment and glared at the robot in question whose guns were now aimed at her. She lunged at the robot with a harsh battle cry with her hammer swinging downward to hammer the robots skull in. "Rivet!" Clank called but had to jump out of the way as the arms cannons fired with Rivet being missed but the emergency lever becoming fried. Rivets strike followed through as she delivered a decisive blow to the head of the doppelganger making it rear back not expecting such a powerful strike. 
Ratchet looked at the ensuing chaos and to both of there companions. He turned to Sep who was waiting for an opportunity to attack that didn't involve hurting Rivet in the process. He felt a tap on his arm. "Grab Clank and get the door working again, I'm gonna grab kit and get her out of there." He said making the move to go before being stopped by a concerned Sep. "What are you going to do?" He asked. Ratchet looked and honestly wasn't sure himself always making plans on the fly unlike Clank who took care of all the long term planning between the two of them. "I'll figure something out. Just go." He pushed Sep in the direction of Clank while he went for the unconscious Kit. having no choice in the matter, Sep followed his orders and grabbed Clank from off the ground before a stray cannon shot could scorch him. Ratchet likewise scooped Kit off the ground turning to look at the corridor in which Rivet was jumping and shooting the doppelganger with her entire arsenal making sure not to get hit by the sweeping blows that put dents into the corridor whenever they did not land. Glancing down the way, the corridor was open a good ways and he could sneak around the back and get is attention from there. 

With a plan in mind, he threw kit onto his back and started running yelling to Sep as he passed, "Get that door open." He made a turn and disappeared from Septimus' sight. Sep nodded to him even though he was out of sight intending to follow through on the orders but couldn't on the simple fact that the main lever was broken. "Oh dear. it seems the controls are fried." Clank spoke up as he looked at the torched lever. He glanced over to the brawl that was taking place with Rivet jumping all over the robot doing her best to put dents in it but nothing seemed to work as she jumped through each blow denting the corridor around them. That gave him an idea. He looked at the Lever before the threshold and how it seemed to be hydraulic powered as well. With vigor, he hoisted Clank onto his back before pulling out his crowbar and started to attack the seams of the door frame. It took him a few attempts but eventually, managed to pry open one of the plates covering the electronics. He tossed the panel away and cast light onto one of his metal digits to light up the small interior to see what was happening. He didn't need much, all he needed was the power cable and nothing more. Eventually, after going through a snakes pit of wires, found what was most likely what he was looking for and placed his hand onto it. He glanced out to the Crazed Lombax. "RIVET, TAKE COVER." he yelled to the Lombax who glanced over noticing where his arm was and got the idea. The airlock was situated on the end of a T junction with doors cordoning off the most direct route to it which was the corridor the Titan was standing in. She got beyond the threshold through a roll with the titan charging up its arms for another Salvo. She grinned. "Do it." She said.

With that command, Sep channeled energy through his arm and cast shocking grasp onto the cables he was clutching. They experienced a surge in power causing electrical sparks to start flying out but the energy was enough to do it. The electrical system kicked in sealing off the adjacent walls and opening the airlock itself. It threw itself open and the titan was pulled along with the air current being dragged along by the air to vacuum difference. However, it managed to grab hold of the lip of the door frame struggling to pull itself in igniting its thrusters. The thrusters were enough for it get purchase in the door frame and it could still complete the mission.
It glanced up and its targeting retina locked onto something bright orange standing on what would have been a wall with the air current being strong enough for them to stand on the door frame. 
Ratchet crouched on the door frame holding on for deer life with air whipping past threatening to pull him into the cold vacuum of space as he cycled through his weapons. He glanced down and saw the titan threatening to get back on board and could only think of one thing that could give it the final push. He also needed to get into the center of the corridor for it to work. He turned on his comm's. "WHOEVER IS ON THE DOOR, CLOSE IT ON MY MARK." He shouted into the comm above the air current. He had to do it quick as he felt Kits limp form on his back start to slide into the current. "Ready." He heard over the Comm's but couldn't make out who it was but it didn't matter. He took in a deep breath before launching himself into the middle of the current letting it carry him like he was falling from the sky out of an aircraft. But he was flying sideways down a corridor and he pulled out the biggest weapon he had on hand. In his hands materialized The RYNO 5 aiming it right at the Titan clinging towards the doors. It glanced up just in time to see it's demise flying straight at it. "Gotcha." Ratchet cheekily said before pulling the trigger. 

A truly Ludicrous number of bullets, missiles and rockets erupted from the many barrels of the RYNO 5 all the the tune of 1812 Overture hammering the titan directly in the face along with the door frame. The Salvo of destruction was enough to pry the fingers off of the titan for it to lose its grip flying out into space. Ratchet slammed onto his comm link now fearing for his life. "Mark Mark Mark!." He yelled rapidly into the comm as the end rapidly approached and for a second he thought they couldn't hear him and he was going to be thrown into space for all eternity. But the doors slammed closed and the air current vanished which also meant that gravity kicked in and Ratchet was sent to the ground rolling with his momentum. He tried to stop it by pulling out the Omniwrench but couldn't do it in time as he face planted the airlock door. He lay splattered on the door for a few moments before comically peeling off of it and landed on the floor proper. For a moment, he lay there groaning on his side thanks to Kit still thankfully magnetized onto his back. Thankfully, she wasn't mounted on his front like him and Clank sometimes joked about as he was certain he would have punctured a lung with that kind of impact. 
The door to his left opened up revealing all the others who were safe and sound behind a blast door. "Are you alright." Rivet ran up to the two of them taking Kit into her arms with Sep helping to support Ratchet. He smiled up at both of them. "I need to file a complaint with upper management...Hallways shouldn't be outfitted with Terminal velocity in mind." He chuckled getting back up on his feet. "Well, what are we waiting for then." Clank chuckled at his friends consistent nonchalance to near death experiences.

It had failed. IT HAD FAILED. "AH THOSE INFURIATING LOMBAXXXEEEESSSSS." F-44 screamed into the Aether from the bridge as she just watched the titan get thrown out the airlock. She knew it had thrusters but with the ships Armour plating, there was no way it could get back to them the way it came in. It would have to go through the Hangar bay then through the rest of the ship to continue it's mission. And the Lombaxes are coming for her. She had to run, she had other loyalist factions out there that she could call upon. She will make her empire thrive and no one could tell her otherwise. She turned to fly out but was stopped with a gun pointed at her head. Rivet was holding it pointed at her with an unconscious KT-7461 on her back. Ratchet was to her right and to the left they had...another LOMBAX. She saw them briefly but didn't think much of it. She looked around the entirety of the bridge for a way out but couldn't find one that didn't involve flying directly at her enemy. 
"F-44, You are officially under arrest for crimes against the galaxy alongside Emperor Nefarious under New galactic confederation law." Rivet said with a smirk finally able to finish off one of the more persistent enemies of the rebels. "I hope you weren't planning on going anywhere cause we have a relaxing prison cell setup in Zordoom prison just for you." She finished as she had the boys hold her hostage while she walked over to the console to call in reinforcements.

Chapter Text

"I swear when i get out of this predicament, I AM GOING TO HAVE ALL OF YOUR HIDES TURNED INTO RUGS IN MY THRONE ROOM. MARK MY WORDS YOU FILTHY SPACE RATS!!!!" F-44 screamed to her captors who were more focused on landing the ship they were on down onto Corson V's surface. They had long since tied her down with industrial strength cables they found so she wouldn't fly away. 
"Sure keep talking, anything you say can and will be used against you or however the line goes." Ratchet said glancing over to Sep with a look that said 'this guy, am I right.' While Sep may not have been completely familiar with the look himself, he seemed to get it.

"Oh you say that now, but just you wait, unlike the EMPEROR, I will enfo-" Sep planted his hand on her before engaging shocking grasp electrocuting them for a few moments before pulling away with F-44 smoking. Sep glanced over to Ratchet. "That's not going to...ya know." He gestured his hand around. Ratchet got the meaning. "Oh, don't worry, she just needs a reboot then we'll be good." He affirmed that Sep was not going to be put in jail for killing a robot. He did not want to get into that debacle at all. "As long as the voltage on that isn't above ten thousand volts then she will be fine." Clank piped up from Ratchets back.

"She better be, we have been hunting her down for too long to let her die from over-current because she kept on yapping about us or some shit." Rivet said confirming with the Air Traffic Control person where to land the prison ship which was in a clear space in the shipyards of Corson V where it likely was before Ratchet and Clank came along. "You can say that again." Kit said being Rivet's co pilot. Outside the windows, multiple repainted nefarious drop ships flew across to help guide them in. Being one of the bigger classes of star ships meant that they needed to have a second set of eyes as the Captain can't see everything like they could in personal transports. 

Sep still stared at them as they hovered in place giving directions to Rivet and subsequently Kit, Ratchet and Clank who maintained visuals telling Rivet if she was getting too close. Thankfully they didn't have any close calls as the mooring clamps made a clunk sound shaking the ship for a moment before settling. The small crew made quick work flicking switches where necessary powering down the ship as a more official model of star ship came flying by the bridge and out to the front. Rivet glanced up and immediately recognized the blue and yellow paint job.
"And that is our guy. lets get moving boys." She said turning around to leave the bridge gesturing to Sep to grab there prisoner. The others would have done it themselves but Sep had a built in stun method should they struggle so he was the resident bodyguard for her.

As they made there way through the bowels of the ship to the main loading ramp, they made sure to set the prisoners free with confederation officers coming in to help keep them somewhat organized. Meanwhile the small group of Lombaxes walked off the ramp with a man in a sleek suit walking up them flanked by two guards. They would not really want to have them but they were going through a reform period and couldn't take the chance. Rivet took the lead. 
"Miss Rivet, Nice to see you back after your impromptu excursion." They said gesturing to the ship behind them with numerous former captives walking in a line off past them. "Yeah, needed to get out of the office. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy what we have been building towards but there is only so much time that can go on before I want to blow something up." She said with Ratchet shaking his head fondly well aware of the feeling.

"Well, it is a good thing that it brought prominent results" They said gesturing around them with a smile before turning serious. "Although, I will have to say that going on an excursion for nearly two weeks without further warning means a lot of paper work." Rivets smile fell away as she slumped at that so caught up in the moment of going on another adventure that she forgot to follow procedure too used to how it was done in the Resistance. Which is to say that they didn't. It was more of a meet up at some place and discuss the plan before doing it. It worked for them but that didn't exactly work on a larger scale it seemed.

"If it is any consolation, I'll assist where I can Rivet." Sep had walked up to Rivet's side making her jump out of her skin forgetting he was there for a moment. "I mean, I am the reason you were torn away from your job and whatnot." He added. While Rivet would have appreciated the extra hand, she simply couldn't. 

"Eh, no need to worry about that. I did it because I chose to and wanted a break from paperwork. We can take care of this ourselves. Besides, I think helping apprehend her is more than enough repayment." She said gesturing to the robot that was still unconscious. "Oh before we forget." Rivet looked back to there government official before gesturing to the unconscious robot. "Make sure she is locked up in maximum security on Zordoom for us please." She said and the official nodded gesturing to his guards who followed the command taking the former Emperors assistant away until a proper ship could arrive to cart her off to Zordoom.

"Also, this is a record of everything she said to us while we were in the process of apprehending her." Clank spoke up holding a drive out. Ratchet took it and passed it to the official. They looked at the drive before giving it an approving nod and putting it into his pocket. Well, if there is nothing else to talk about I will be off now. he extended his hand to Rivet. "Once again, thank you Rivet." She shook the hand well acquainted with this mans love of handshakes for some bizarre reason. "Same goes for you two gentleman." He shook Ratchets hand before moving over to Sep. "And thank you..." He stopped as he really took in what he was seeing and began to look to Rivet for answers but was stopped when Sep took his hand. "Just returning the favor." He said before breaking physical contact glancing over to the other two with a nod directing his words. They returned the gesture while the official retracted his hand and regained his composure. "I'll fill you in later." Rivet said. She didn't care if he waited for an answer on who the newcomer was. It had been a long day.

"Well, in that case. I bid you all adieu." The official said before boarding his personal ship. The thrusters ignited as the door closed and he sped off most likely back to his office. Rivet took a breath before letting it out again knowing that she had work to do and there was no time like the present. She turned around to look at the others. "Alright, I have got a whole bunch of boring bureaucratic stuff to do so I am going to have to jet but..." She turned towards Sep. "If you want, the offer is still open on fixing your arm socket there." She said. Sep glanced at it instinctively grabbing it and feeling the metal plates beneath his shirt. He looked back up to her and then back to Ratchet. Ratchet just simply shrugged towards Rivet as it was Sep's call and not his.
"Name a time and I'll be there." He said feeling the metal tugging at his skin. It was something that he had long since grown used to but he could still feel the pain and if she could help alleviate that then it was simply an opportunity he could not pass up. "You got it. Kit, when about's should we be free?" She asked her companion strapped to her back having regained consciousness long before they landed. 

"Well, considering the new amount of paperwork we should be doing with this and what has undoubtedly been missed then we should be free in about five days." She said having long since become accustomed to keeping track of there shared schedule. Rivet sucked in a breath and slowly deflated knowing that this was all for the greater good and that she could survive it. 
"Alright, OK, good, goodgoodgoodgoodgood. -inhale- Good." She turned to look at Ratchet. "Was it like this for you when you saved the galaxy." She asked.
"Yep. But no time like the present as they say." Ratchet replied shrugging his shoulders and putting his hands up.
"OK, please tell me it gets better soon?" She asked.
"Eh, only if you put in the work but you should be able to have a quiet moment in I'd give it another few months at the least." Ratchet replied shaking his hand in a so and so gesture as this kind of event varied wildly in his experience. Sometimes it was a few months or not even a week after each individual adventure. Internally, Ratchet was glad that he never got himself into the unfortunate happenstance of restructuring another entire galactic government like Rivet did. 

Rivet's hold body slowly sagged from forced enthusiasm to utter dread as she internally pleaded with Ratchet that it was not the case but the look he gave her very much said otherwise. She sucked in another breath composing herself.
"Ya know, it could go a lot faster if i had someone else helping..." She said hoping that Ratchet would get the hint. Ratchet unfortunately shook his head in resignation. "Unfortunately, I can't as I also have some work that I need to get back to." He said.
"We should also get to informing Talwyn of Septimus' condition as she has no doubt been requesting updates from us ever since we left." Clank piped up from his side having long since hopped off his back. Sep looked at the Robot in confusion having almost forgotten he was there at the mention of his name. 

Rivet inhaled a massive amount of air before letting it out and looking at the other two resigned to her fate in an office and not shooting bad guys. "Alright. You boys get back to your dimension and I will stay here at mine and will see you at the end of the week. See ya." Rivet said turning around and walking alongside Kit to where a government transport was waiting for her.
Once she was out of earshot, Sep leaned towards Ratchet. "Do you actually have anything going on?" He asked out of both curiosity and general paranoia to people he had never met before. 
"Outside of giving Tal a sitrep on your condition...Nah, got nothing going on." Ratchet looked upwards thinking about what he had going on back on Veldin. Sep looked down to clank to confirm and sure enough, Clank nodded in affirmation. He looked over to where Rivet had walked off and glanced to the side to Ratchet and back again a few more times before coming to a simple conclusion.

"She is going to have your head when she finds out about this."
"Oh absolutely." They both agreed.
"But before that becomes a reality, Whaddya say we jump back to the one we originally came from?" Ratchet said conspiratorially going through his arsenal tool and finding the Dimensionator ready to deploy. "Yeah, let's." Sep replied. With a nod, Ratchet brought out the Dimensionator and input the appropriate coordinates before bringing the trio of them to a deserted alleyway to avoid any looks from prying eyes. Sep couldn't help but be entranced by the almost Shattered glass look that the portal exuded as it was so unlike anything that he had seen. He couldn't help but feel envious of Ratchet and his Dimensionator given his current situation but it would have been rude to ask something like that from him given how much Ratchet had done for him in the short amount of time they had known each other.

Without further delay, The three of them stepped through the portal into the garage that they had originally came through and were assaulted with Veldinn's signature desert heat. It wasn't unpleasant as it would be to most people for these two as it was more of a comfort than anything else. All those days spent in a cold metal box floating through space when they both grew up in the desert certainly had something to do with it. 
Ratchet disengaged the Dimensionator and the portal behind them closed leaving no trace that it was ever there to begin with other than a small vacuum for a split second. Not even a few seconds later, Ratchets communicator began going off with numerous missed call messages. He pulled out the communicator and was assaulted by an absolute onslaught of the messages not even having enough time to read the titles of a few of them before they disappeared again. While Sep didn't quite understand the technology fully, he could make an educated guess and sucked in air through his teeth while Ratchet audibly gulped. 

Clank turned to Ratchet from his position. "I think it is best that we let Talwyn take our head instead of Rivet this time. And while you are doing that, I shall find something for you two to eat." He then turned and walked towards the hallway into the kitchen. Ratchet sucked in a breath before glancing over to his guest. "Come on, where going to want a seat for this." He began walking into the living room with Sep following close on his heals and mentally noted to not have a girlfriend in the event something like this happened despite Ratchets talk before they left for Savali.

The medical checkup with Talwyn was more of a scolding directed at Ratchet than anything else. Apparently, this wasn't the first time that Ratchet had ceased all communication with someone for weeks on end. This time, he had forgotten to tell them that they would be in another dimension for a couple of weeks. Not the being in another dimension part but the two weeks part. The actual medical checkup lasted about five minutes after that. The only thing that Sep could really report was that he wasn't as perturbed by his Dysphoria all that much anymore. Sure it was a shock when he first saw that he was in a body that wasn't his own but over the course of a couple of weeks, he had grown used to it.
The only other thing would be that his arm still slightly hurt at the socket but that was nothing new. He had that going for him ever since he lost his arm in the first place but that would be remedied soon so he didn't think it necessary to mention it to her. They would mention it if there makeshift solution went sideways which was always a possibility as anyone could tell these Lombaxes weren't exactly medical professionals. There robot companions on the other hand were another story.

But they didn't let that hold them down as a few days later, Ratchet got a customer talking about a busted Repulsor causing there space cruiser to veer to the left when flying a straight line. Along with a myriad of other sounds that didn't sound like they should have been there in the first place. Sep opted to help him out as two heads were better than one and he frankly needed something to occupy his hands until Rivet could get off work. He also wanted to know how these things worked like any good engineer would. He was already thinking of making his own single seater hover vehicle just thinking about it.
His help was mostly moving equipment around and passing what Ratchet needed as he knew this stuff like the back of his hand and Sep simply had no idea where to start. But over time, Ratchet taught him how things were supposed to work and where they went and what they did. As much of a grump as he was and Sep was very acutely aware of his outward persona to people, he really did enjoy learning from others especially if they were like minded individuals such as Ratchet. 

Right now, they were lowering the main Repulsor back into its designated compartment in the front left of the cruiser. The problem turned out to be a case of a software update screwed over the calibration settings causing to to not repel as much force as it otherwise should have been doing. The component that managed the energy output also happened to be built into the hub and not with the rest of the internal computer for some bizarre reason. It also proved to be really heavy requiring the both of them to lift it in unison. Clank was directing the two of them where to put it making sure that it was in proper alignment. Once the device was set into place, they got to bolting it back into place with a very complicated series of plates that needed to be arranged exactly in the order they came apart in. Neither of them like that and individually cursed the manufacturer for making it that complicated when it didn't need to be.
"Alright, now lets hope we didn't get our wires crossed." Ratchet said as he moved into the drivers seat. "Mind monitoring the gauge?" He asked to Sep who dutifully brought the screen around so he could monitor the energy output of all the Repulsors. Turned out there was a difference between Repulsors and Thrusters. Repulsors worked similarly to magnets whose poles weren't aligned with one another. They actively repelled against a surface whereas thrusters were more simple in that they took air in and blasted it out at a greater speed. Ion thrusters were different but that was another matter entirely.

He watched as Ratchet turned the wheel to the side that they knew was working to give them a baseline. Sep made a mental note of the number displayed giving a thumbs up to Ratchet. Ratchet turned the wheel the other way with the displayed number going into the negatives but otherwise, it was near identical. "I think we got it bang on." He yelled over to him who pumped his fist in the air to himself. 
"OK sweet, lets run a few more tests before we call it." Ratchet said to which Sep agreed. Normally, Clank would have been the one to do this but Sep wanted to learn and Clank had no problem essentially having a day off while someone else learned. He found Septimus' fascination with there world endlessly fascinating after all. He just hoped he wouldn't use that knowledge to become an intergalactic tyrant like many a historical figure with a less than glamorous past.

"Ya know, I still can't fathom how you guys use digital currency instead of physical." Sep noted as the customer paid Ratchet via a plastic card and an app on there communicator. "Yeah well, something something, Convenience. Something something, Inflation. Something something, civilization went bigger than what the old system could handle. Something something, we have long since stopped questioning it." Ratchet explained. 
"That is hardly how it went." Clank corrected as they walked into the living room done for the moment as there customer flew off into the sunset.
"Yeah well, I've never really been interested in finance to begin with sooo...I'll leave that to you Pal." He replied grabbing a can from the fridge. "Want one?" He asked Sep who agreed. They popped open there respective cans and Ratchet took a swig before looking at Sep who was enraptured by the flavor if the wide eyes was anything to go off of. Man, how he did not envy his living situation. That also begged the question.

"Hey Sep. what exactly do you plan on doing once this is all done?" he asked after Sep had brought the can away from his lips not wanting to clean up a spit take today. 
It took the not a lombax but instead demon inhabiting another body that was still technically his a few seconds of gazing at the ceiling to think of an answer. He set his can back down on the counter as he really thought through it not having thought about it since he got whisked away from his home realm. While he didn't like the world he was born into, he also coudln't deny that there was something that he still needed to do back there.
He inhaled a breath before letting it loos again. "In all honesty. As much as I like this dimension, I still have some stuff that I need to do back home. I'd probably get going as soon as Rivet's done. Your probably getting sick of housing me at this point anyway." Ratchet was about to take a sip of his drink but stopped himself when he heard that.

"Actually not at all." He replied. Sep turned to him confused. Sure he had grown to trust him more as time went on but surely he was exhausting Ratchets hospitality regardless of what was essentially a mission for him. He turned to Ratchet.
"I mean sure, it is not entirely ideal but that doesn't mean I am going to kick you out the first chance I get. It is honestly kind of refreshing having someone else around the place to talk to. Seriously, it gets lonely at times even with Clank." He replied leaning back on the counter with a reassuring smile. Sep despite getting to know Ratchet enough to tell that he wouldn't betray him couldn't help but let the paranoid part of his brain say that he was getting sick of him and he needed to run. He pushed that down however as the logical part of his brain said the opposite that Ratchet was indeed a trustworthy and caring person possibly to his own detriment. 
"Plus, I can tell your not quite ready to get going just yet." Ratchet said piercing his thoughts. Sep raised his finger to say otherwise but brought it back down as he realized the futility of such an action. He instead brought it to the back of his head and rubbed it awkwardly.

"Yeah, your right. It's just...This dimension is leagues ahead of mine and I can't help but want to learn how it all works but I also have my own things going on back home that I can't really put on the back burner. And I have no idea the limitations on the prism so I may not be able to come back here once I am done like you can with the Dimensionator." He said taking in a breath and leaning against the counter. "And I am sure as hell exists which it does-thats where Tieflings come from-that you are not going to just hand it over willy nilly like you would a screwdriver." He added taking another sip from his can.
"Well, your certainly right about the Dimensionator. But I can definitely see you somehow building your own with the phase prism. It wouldn't be too dissimilar to the Dimensionator really, just bigger and more cumbersome and magical." Ratchet explained.
"Wait, the Dimensionator is powered by a crystal?" Sep asked.
"Yeah, more specifically Phase Quartz." Ratchet explained before taking another sip from his can. 
Sep let that piece of knowledge float around in his head for all of a few seconds and the world he found himself in and an idea formed.
"Where can I buy a lump of it?" He asked.
Ratchet spit the contents of his can back into it and some of it onto the floor before he began to laugh. Sep just looked at him confused wondering what was so funny that he had performed a spit take to it.

"I'm sorry...I'm sorry hehehhe, I'm sorry but BUYING a piece of Phase Quartz is not happening any time soon. That stuff you gotta get a government permit for and it is already rare enough to begin with." Ratchet explained after hearing someone talk about buying one the rarest minerals in the universe like you could from the Sunday market. Sep on the other hand now understood the joke but thought of a few other ways to get his hands on some. Maybe there was some form of black market for the stuff that only sold to customers with extremely deep pockets. Maybe there was a certain loophole that could be exploited...could be exploited. 
"OK, another avenue." Sep began. "Could you call in a government favor to get a lump of it being an intergalactic hero who actively needs it on a regular basis then." He finished. Ratchet went to dispute it but pulled back thinking over the legitimacy of Sep's words. He wasn't technically wrong as he very well could pull a few strings if he really wanted to or make a threat to Qwark if he so felt like it even if the consequences wouldn't really mean much. He absolutely had built up a list of people who said to call if he ever needed anything and hadn't cashed in on them so he reasonably could.
"I mean, I certainly have a few people I could call that could acquire some but I can't say anything like I am handing it over to this inter dimensional traveler that I only met a month ago." Ratchet said.
"Also, How can I be sure that you won't just randomly go and terrorize the universe with the thing." He added even though it was a safe bet that that was the furthest thing on his mind at this current point in time. Sep turned to look him in the eyes to make his point very clear. 
"You know my story, And I can assure you that I would never try to use it to nefarious ends. I just want to get back home and nothing more." He said slowly and calmly. Ratchet was going to try and make a few more arguments but Sep's electric cyan pupils shown through his abyssal eyes. Ratchet wasn't sure if it looked weird on him or not having become accustomed to his eyes being a solid black over the time they had known each other. But he couldn't fault the mans determination that rang true and could tell that he would absolutely only use it if needed and not willy nilly.

He also couldn't help but feel a kinship with him in how they are both trying to find there way to a home that was taken from them. While he absolutely had the means to find the Lombaxes, he had just been waiting for Rivet to be ready as she arguably wanted to find the Lombaxes even more than he did. But regardless of the circumstances, he could absolutely understand the drive that Sep has to get back home. And there was no guarantee that the phase gate prism would even work in that regard whereas phase quartz absolutely could. He really wasn't sure about it but he had to give an answer as Sep was waiting patiently for one. He really needed more time to think about it. 

"OK, regardless of your past and regardless of your intentions. I'm not so sure about getting a piece of Phase quartz for you even though it is practically useless on its own. That's not to say that I don't trust you but I have been burned in the past and I'd rather not go against my duty as a keeper of the Dimensionator which would also involve randomly giving people inter dimensional travel in a gun. So. I'm gonna have to put a pin in it for the moment." Ratchet said.
Sep slowly nodded in understanding. Sure, it would have been ideal if he could get a piece just like that but that was so very rarely how it went. Usually one had to make some form of deal for it but not so much with this stuff as it was probably only reserved for scientific purposes at the most. He honestly found it admirable that Ratchet wasn't just willing to hand it over to him on a silver platter because of the inherent consequences. But overall, it wasn't Sep's choice to make but Ratchets so he had to accept whatever answer he had and simply look elsewhere. Maybe he could find some other inter dimensional rock that could do the same stuff somewhere else. That was certainly a possibility.
"I understand, I won't force you to hand it over. You don't deserve that for...doing your job? Is Keeper of the Dimensionator an official title?" He asked not having thought of it until now.

"Why yes it is. My dad was the previous holder of the title before Tachyon came along but I intend not to let him or the rest of the Lombaxes down." Ratchet said resolutely like he was a soldier reciting there oath.
"OK but if that is the case and you say you never got the chance to meet him then how did he give you the title?" Sep questioned. Ratchet again was lost for words as his features fell and he had to admit the truth. 
"Technically I am not a keeper in any official capacity but I am pretty sure I would get the position if I applied to it regardless and I am by far a better choice than someone like Qwark, I can tell you that much." He defended. The more that Ratchet brought up this Qwark guy, the more he hoped he wouldn't have the displeasure of meeting him otherwise he may get arrested for assault on a government official. And no foreign diplomat policy would save him from that. 

"Well anyway, I don't know about you but I am hungry. So Whaddya say we put this conversation on hold and get something to eat." Ratchet said to which Sep agreed not realizing how hungry he was until Ratchet spoke. He really needed to repay him somehow for all that he has done for him somehow. But that would have to be for another time.

A few days later and Ratchet and Sep were busy clearing out a space in the workshop to act as a makeshift operation table. Rivet was supposed to have her day off today and they didn't know when they would get another chance so they had to make it work. Sep had made a diagram of how his current arm was attached to his torso and trusted Rivet to think of something that would work that was objectively better. 
Ever since he had made the damn thing, there was always this dull ache that he could never get rid of at all the points that it made contact with the skin that he had tuned out over time. He had tried to fix it but it never truly went away and it was cumbersome. Sure it could be attributed to not knowing any better at the time of creation but he always knew that in the back of his mind that it could be improved. He didn't have the solution then but he could maybe get it in time but that was where Rivet came in having gone through the process herself with infinitely better resources. While he wasn't the most keen on leaning on someone else, he couldn't deny that sometimes it was the best option and he could build upon it in his own time if he really wanted to.
"Alright, lets see." Ratchet began setting his hands on his hips looking at the space around them. "Tarp, check. Table, Check. Medical supplies, check. Tools, check regardless when she brings her own. Are we missing anything?" Ratchet tilted his head to the clouds trying to think of something he no doubt forgot. 
"Outside of Rivet and Kit. I believe we are all set up." Clank said acting as ground supervisor for them at least while Sep is awake. He and everyone else would assist Rivet where they could when they needed it.

"The only thing we are missing is the healer herself, when about's should she be here?" Sep questioned looking over to Ratchet while he stood next to a series of long abandoned crates they were using to store everything in. Sep looked at his communicator and saw the time.
"She should be good to go any minute now, just gotta wait for her to send the green light to portal her over here." As soon as he finished speaking, a message popped up on his communicator from Rivet of all people. "Actually make that right now. Stand back." Ratchet said going into his arsenal tool and pulling out the Dimensionator before aiming it at the same spot they had previously been using to place the portal. 

He pulled the trigger and space shattered like broken glass into a menagerie of magenta's and purples with Rivet standing on the other end clutching a toolbox in one hand with a piece of material in the other. Without wasting another second, she walked through with kit following beside her. Once through the portal, Ratchet disengaged the portal and stowed the Dimensionator back into the arsenal tool. 
"So. Are ya ready for this?" Rivet asked holding up the piece of material in her hand which now that he could get a look at it resembled the general shape of someones shoulder. Sep clasped his metal shoulder in reflex briefly looking at it knowing that it wouldn't hurt anymore in a few more hours. He turned back to Rivet nodding his head.

"Alright, then take your top off and have a seat." She said moving over to the makeshift operating table they had set up. It was really a spare piece of hull plating that Ratchet had laying around attached on the bottom by mag-lev units used for carting around bigger vehicle components more easily.
With a deep breath whilst Rivet got her gear set up, Sep took off his coat and then his shirt exposing the steel plates that held his arm on. Rivet sucked in air through her teeth looking at it as they took up almost the entire right side of his torso and looked grafted into place. It was still astonishing that he managed to last as long as he did without Anesthetic back then but that would not be the case today. Sep looked over to Rivet who gestured for the table.

Sep took a seat before lying on it facing the ceiling. "OK, I just want you to relax otherwise this will hurt more than it needs to." Rivet said holding a needle filled with a clear liquid above his head. Sep nodded and did his best to go limp and relax. After a few seconds of this, he felt a prick in his left shoulder before it was being pulled out again. He could barely feel it go in and out and was starting to have doubts about if it didn't work or not but soon he felt really tired all of a sudden. 
"Don't worry, by the time you wake up. You'll be feeling a lot better." He could faintly hear Rivet speak as her voice became more muffled and he felt his senses slipping away faster and faster until finally he fell into unconsciousness. 

Rivet, Ratchet, Clank and Kit watched him for a moment as his breathing slowed down and his head lulled to one side and concluded that he was indeed unconscious. Rivet looked up at her dimensional counterpart and said "Welp, lets get to work."

First, they hooked Sep up to a portable heart rate monitor so they could make sure he wouldn't wake up in pain and began the first part of the process. Removing the arm itself wasn't an issue as Sep had done it beforehand. No, the real issue was the metal plates across his chest and back that held the apparatus in place. 
Looking at the way they were grafted onto the skin, they concluded that they had to apply heat first before prying it off.

Rivet was in charge of pulling the chest plate off whilst Ratchet applied heat with a controlled burn from a cauterizer. They made sure to clean it before the procedure began. Slowly but surely, they heated up where the metal met the body and slowly peeled the plate off revealing pink skin in contrast to the bright red fur they had come to see over the past few weeks. It made sense it would be like that but it was another thing entirely to see it first hand. "Alright, one down, one to go." Ratchet said as they put the metal plate to the side before flipping Sep over onto his stomach.

This one proved to be a tad more difficult than the last as they had to contend with the curvature of the mans back which meant more room for failure. Clank and Kit had to get there metallic digits underneath to keep the plate from slapping itself back into place all thanks to the curvature. But after some time, they finally managed to pry it free and off of it's fleshy prison. His back was very much the same as the front with the different skin coloration after not being exposed to sunlight in god knows how long. The Lombaxes were both glad that they managed to peel the plates off safely and without drawing blood or adding more scar's. The guy had enough already and that was saying something to these guys who have more than there fair share.

"Now for the fun part." Rivet said pulling out the piece she brought with her. 
"What exactly is it?" Ratchet asked.
"In short." Rivet began. "Carbon fiber as a base for the whole thing before being plated with trillium for added strength and all the wires that should line up with what our guy has made himself." She finished looking over at the right arm socket where an arm should have been but instead were numerous wires that linked up to his nervous system allowing for the arm to move like the real thing.
Rivet was still impressed that he managed to pull it off without using any electricity other than the signals that his own body produced. It was mental.

but this was not the time to be drooling over fantastic mechanical design but rather adding to it. Rivet positioned the new socket over where it would soon be making sure that she got her measurements right and they seemed to line up exactly as they should have. She based the design off of her own of course and while it wasn't nearly as painful as what this guy did, it was still pretty invasive regardless. With a deep breath, she went to work.

Ratchet and the others provided tools and assistance as directed by Rivet as she worked on connected the wires to there respective housings testing them on a monitor she had Ratchet wheel over. After making sure that she had the right nerves connected with the right wires, Rivet went to work soldering the connections in place. The benefit to this was that the socket could still be removed easily enough without too much hassle and be reattached just as easily as long as the person in question knew how to solder. The smoke wafted up before being blown away by one of Clanks helicopter blade attachments as Rivet focused on making the connections good and strong.
After that, the soldering was done and now came what would have been the really painful part. Attaching the socket to the torso.

For this, Ratchet propped up Sep at Rivets request as this was simply easier with both sides of his body at her disposal rather than one at a time. Once Sep was in position, she had the two robots hold the socket in place while she went to work grafting it to what remained of the right side of Sep's Torso. Whatever happened specifically made a very clean cut taking the shoulder clean off. Was it chopped off with a guillotine or something similar. Maybe she could wrangle that story out of him when he woke up as payment for doing this. While she would respect him if he did not want to share it with her-gods know she wasn't exactly too keen on sharing her own story on the matter-she would love to know what really happened. 
She kept tossing the thought over and over in her head whilst she grafted share the skin met the metal with a special material saved specifically for this kind of injury. It wasn't something you could just pull off the shelf but it was widely used in the medical scene for amputees specifically. She had a good stockpile of the stuff so it wasn't too much hassle to incorporate it into the design.

After an almost agonizing number of minutes, she had managed to graft the socket to Sep's Torso with barely a nick in sight mostly thanks to no fur being there to be nicked but semantics, She was done and now came the final bit. Reattaching the prosthetic itself which proved to be the easiest by far.
It didn't take much to attach it as it was almost plug and play with how it interfaced which they were happy with. After aligning the pins, they pushed it in with a satisfying mechanical ker-clunk followed by the numerous joints briefly spasming as they interfaced with Sep as they had no doubt done multiple times. Rivet glanced to Ratchet and gave him a nod to say that they were indeed done. 

Ratchet lowered Sep onto his back and began the waiting process. Glancing at the clock on the wall indicated that the entire surgery they had just performed only took a good two hours. He then looked back to Sep and then to Rivet. "How big of a dose did you give him?" He asked.
"Eh, enough to have him knocked out for four hours, I honestly thought it was going to take longer than what it did." She said rather pleased with herself. They all just stared awkwardly at each other for a moment as they had to wait another two hours to tell what the results of there back alley surgery. Okay, it wasn't that but it certainly felt like it.
They looked around for things to do before Kit spoke up.

"Um, Rivet. Didn't I hear throughout the week that you were looking to further drive your boot down into Ratchet's face in Super smash bots Brawl?" Rivet looked at her confused for a second before it all came back to her. She had been so focused on the surgery that she completely forgot about it but now, An evil grin grew on her face as she looked to the Lombax in question. 
"So, what about it Hotshot. In for another round of boot sandwich." She asked. Ratchet sported his own grin always down for a challenge of just about any kind. It truly was one of his greatest weaknesses but goddammit if he wasn't ready to defend his honor in the ring of video games. "Your on." he replied.

Sep's senses were in total chaos at the moment as he could barely hear anything above a muffle and his vision was incredibly blurry and he felt extremely nauseous. For the next few minutes, he stirred where he lay as his senses slowly came back into focus and he could make out actual detail instead of bright light and muffled sounds. He opened his eyes fully and remembered where he was, On the makeshift table they made so they could operate on him. Did they operate on him? He couldn't exactly remember what happened to him as all he remembered was Rivet telling him to relax before giving him something. Ah, it came back to him. 
Rivet had injected him with some of that Anesthetic they were talking about and they must had operated on him but he didn't feel a thing...He didn't feel a thing. He reached over with his still organic hand feeling his chest and was almost shocked when he didn't meet hard metal but scarred flesh. It was tender to the touch but it would most likely fade in a few days especially having been covered for the past five years since he first installed his arm.

"Ah, good. You are awake." Sep heard from his side and found clank sitting there beside him watching over him like a loyal sentry. "How are you feeling?" The robot asked. Sep pushed himself into an upright position having to plant his hands to stabilize himself. He felt the room spin slightly. "Woozy." Was all he said but that was enough to make Clank perform his signature chuckle. "Don't worry, that is just a side effect of the Anesthetic wearing off. You should be fine within the next ten minutes." He noted as Sep swung his body around to plant his feet on the floor.
"I think you shall be glad to know that the surgery was a resounding success despite it not being performed by professionals." Clank said as Sep blinked his eyes a few times so they could adjust and so he couldn't feel the room spinning. 

When looking at the room didn't work, he transitioned to the thing on his mind. His arm. He looked down at the brand new socket with interest. It was made with a black material that weaved in over itself on the bottommost layer before a second layer of some other space age metal overtook it. And the best part about it...He could barely feel it. While it wasn't nearly as good as a fully organic limb, it was significantly less painful than the setup he had. While he had grown accustomed to that pain over time, it still gnawed at him anytime he went to make adjustments to it. But now, even though the skin around where it was grafted on was still raw from surgery, he could barely feel it. Maybe he could finally forget that he was an amputee for a moment and feel normal for once in a long time. And he had Rivet to thank for that. He looked over to Clank.

"Whereabouts are they?" He asked going to put his weight on his legs. "They are currently in the living room in another tournament of theirs." The robot responded as Sep used the makeshift table to steady himself as he put weight on his legs. He felt pins and needles in them but it wasn't enough to deter him from walking. He went slowly at first with Clank coming in by his side to support him. Together, they walked towards the living room where they could hear the aftermath of a fierce fight take place. From the sounds of things, Sep could piece together that it was Rivet who had won this bout and Ratchet had lost in what had to have been spectacular fashion. 
Ratchet seemed too stunned to talk as she trash talked him right up in his face pumping the air with her fist before settling back down again.

"Should I have stayed asleep?" Sep asked catching the two Lombaxes off guard as they whipped there heads around to see there patient standing in the doorway leaning on Clank for support. Rivet grinned admiring her handiwork seeing it in motion. "How does it feel?" She asked.
Sep looked her in the eyes when he said it. "Can barely feel a thing." He said unable to help how his lips curled up and his pupils shined through there electric blue.

-A few weeks later

They were all standing on the precipice of Ratchets Garage that had previously been used for the Dimensionator portal. It had been a few weeks as Sep spent his time with the two Lombaxes studying all he could from them and helping out where he could and just hanging out. It really felt nice to just slow down and not worry about any project or if someone was going to stab you in the back for once. He even took bits of scrap that he could find and managed to wire up his own personal computer with a bit of help from the others of course. He managed to hook it up to a very beefy power cell that should in theory keep it running for a few years without needing to charge which worked well for him as he didn't know where he was going next. And they probably wouldn't have a compatible outlet otherwise so he was good until then.
He had loaded all the material he could onto it so he was prepared no matter where he went.

"So, this is it huh?" Ratchet said from behind him as he was staring at the frame that would house his own portal out of this dimension. 
"Yeah, I guess it is." He turned around to face them as it was the courteous thing to do. He saw fondness in the Lombaxes eyes as they had live with him over the past few weeks and found a lot of things in common. They could really see what was going on inside the others head and it felt comforting in a way that the really couldn't describe. At least that is how Sep saw it.
"Well, if this is the last time that we are going to see ya then. Photo time!" Rivet said as she grabbed Sep and pulled him in between herself and Ratchet with Clank and Kit taking up positions in front of them all the while he looked utterly confused. "Just roll with it." Ratchet said while Rivet tossed up a small drone that unfolded a cylindrical eye looking at them. "Say cheese!" Rivet said and the others said Cheese as the drone emitted a bright flash temporarily making Sep blink to get the bright spots out of his vision. 
"What was that?" He asked.

Rivet walked up to the drone as it printed out a piece of paper no smaller than someones pocket. "A little souvenir." She said passing to him after shaking it in the air a few times. Sep took the offered piece of paper and it revealed the image they just took with Sep in the middle looking utterly confused and somewhat mortified. Ratchet and Rivet stood behind him waving with smiles on there faces. Clank and Kit stood in front of him with hands up in the air and in the stereotypical thinking pose respectively. 
"Something to remember us by." Rivet said as all the others came over to see how well the image turned out.
Sep looked up from the image to look at the friends in front of him. In all his years, he couldn't think of anyone who he would willingly call friend but these knuckleheads had somehow managed to do it.

"Thank you guys for...everything that you have done to help me. I'm...not sure what I would have done had I not run into you guys." He said. He took a quick breath not wanting to leave but at the same time knowing that he had to. He didn't belong in this realm and he had a promise to uphold. 

"Well, If you ever want to come back and hang out. Don't hesitate to open a portal when you get the chance." Ratchet said giving him a reassuring smile to let him know that he meant it. He felt a metallic hand on his shoulder and looked at Rivet who looked dead serious. "Just don't bring a galactic tyrant with you if you can help it." She said before sporting a smile and laughing at her joke with the others joining in. Sep couldn't help but chuckle making a mental note not to do so. 
"I'll do my best. rest assured I will have there asses fried before they get here." He said adding onto the joke. 

"Wait, is that a smile I see." Kit looked up to him noting the change in demeanor. "Oh my god, it is." Ratchet said joining in along with Rivet and Clank once the reality of the situation dawned on them.
"OK, now I really need to get going. I can't have you guys ruining my persona." Sep said chuckling at the sheer ridiculousness of the statement. "Very well then." Clank said as he pulled out the Phase Gate Prism which he had been holding onto and studying throughout the time that Sep had been there. Its blue glow illuminated them all as Clank positioned it in a more appropriate spot for Sep to quite literally work his magic.
"It was such an interest observing you Septimus. I'm almost sad seeing you go so soon but we won't stop you. Find where you need to go. We'll have a bunk waiting for you should you need it on your travels." Clank said.

Alright...he was really doing this. Sep took a quick breath and positioned himself in front of the large glowing crystal before raising his hand up to it like he did on the star freighter on there way back from there expedition. He conjured to mind thoughts of the past and where he was coming from. The present that he was standing in right now. He let all his other senses fall to the wayside as he focused on the future and where he wanted to go. Before long, the gateway erupted to life ripping through dimensions and conjuring that star filled space at the Edge of everything. He opened his eyes as he no longer needed to focus on it. He picked up his bag with all of his gear in it and turned his head towards his gracious hosts. He couldn't hold it in any longer and he felt they earned the right to know. 

"Blake" He said.

They all looked at him confused for a moment. Ratchet was gonna ask a question but stumbled over his words enough for Sep to elaborate. "That's my name." Sep explained. That wasn't to say that Septimus wasn't his name to begin with but rather, it was his middle name whereas Blake was his first name. The amount of people who knew the distinction had dwindled so far over the years that he didn't need a finger to count the number of people who had known but now, he knew that he could trust these guys with it.
"Alright, Get in here." Ratchet said after recovering grabbing Sep by the shoulders and pulling him into a hug. Rivet, Clank and Kit all joined in on it as they knew this would be the last time they would see Se...Blake for a while. After a few minutes of feeling the loving embrace of friends, they all separated. 
"Alright, again, Thanks for all you have done. I guess I'll see you when I see ya." Blake said.

"Yeah." Ratchet said giving him a goodbye salute. "See ya Stargazer." He finished. Blake looked back upon all of them giving a small wave as he stared back into that great ever infinite void that held his future. They all uttered there own goodbyes as he finally stepped beyond the threshold.

The gate behind Blake closed shut as he stood at The Edge of everything with that brilliant star scape overhead and a perfectly reflective and flat surface underfoot. He took a breath as he was now on his own again as he had been for years. He leaned his entire body back as he inhaled a breath and released it feeling calm. He looked ahead tempted to just stay standing there a while. He placed his hands in his coat pockets out of habit before he felt something. He looked down into his right pocket and felt something in there. Pulling it out revealed a small pink crystal no bigger than the palm of his hand and he could feel so much possibility radiating off of it. He also pulled out a small note pinned between his palm and the rock. He looked at it.

Phase Quartz, use it well and don't tell anyone where you got it from
-R

Blake chuckled to himself as the intent was clear. He must of slid it into his pocket when they were taking the photo. He would find his own way back to them. With a smile on his face for the first time in a long time. Blake walked in a random direction with a purpose. 
He would find his way home and maybe bring a few friends along for a visit.